Icelynn Lace: Ice Fire Dragon Slayer
by Bugg18
Summary: The Ice Dragon's have a rare and special ability. The Ice Fire. A rare magic among rare magic that allows ice to take the form of a flame. Icelynn Lace is the Ice Dragon Slayer who has a chance at obtaining this power, but why would dark guilds, and Zeref want with it? Come follow Icelynn as she learns it, while keeping it, and her loved ones safe from those who are after it...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Salamander?

_Dear Storm,_

_ I hope that this letter finds you well. I'm doing well, and so is Lucy. And as you already know, it's been a year since Lucy and I ran away from the estate, and the lives her father was trying to force us into. It's been a year, and we've yet to run across a reclaiming attempt. You'd think that with Lucy being that jerk's daughter, he would have at least tried to get both his daughter, and ward back within a day or so. _

_ It aggravates Lucy to no end, while I don't really care. Why would I when he's ignored us for as long as he's known us? Save for when he wanted something out of us to make his rich, miserable life more bearable. _

_ Either way, Lucy and I are currently heading towards the town Hargeon by train. We expect to arrive in a few minutes actually. We heard a rumor that the salamander of the wizard guild Fairy Tail is currently staying in town. We are going to look for him, and see if we have a shot at becoming guild members of the most famous guild in all of Fiore. _

_ Well, the trains pulling into the station now, so I'm off. Wish us luck, Father..._

_With love,_

_Icelynn._

…_..._...

I couldn't help but smile as I folded up the letter, stuck it in an envelope, and sealed it shut to put it in the box with the others. I had been writing letters to Storm, my foster father, and teacher of my form of magic, since the day he was forced to leave me behind seven years ago for some unknown reason.

It had torn me up inside at first, after he left. I had felt betrayed, hurt, and so alone. At least, until Lucy's father found me starved half to death on the side of the road one day, as he was returning home from a business trip. Not being able to see a child suffer, he took me home, and made me his charge, and friend for his only child. The child of the woman he lost to a rare disease mere years before...

Not to mention that writing these letters also helped to ease the pain I felt over it.

Lucy and I hit it right off the bat almost as soon as we met. Both of us were trapped in a world we were destined to be alone, and left in the dark by our fathers. It took no time for us to feel like we were sisters. For us to _become_ sisters...

As we got older, the treatment Lucy and I received under her father's controlling idiocy became worse. Instead of letting us choose our own life, he tried to take the choices from us.

This went on for five years before Lucy and I had had enough, and finally made our break for it. And now here we are. Traveling all around Fiore, like we had always dreamed.

When the train started to slow down to stop, I reached over and tapped Lucy on the shoulder.

"Hmm... Are we there yet?" She mumbled sleepily, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Finally." I said with a smirk, as she sat up.

"I'll say... That was quite a long train ride." Lucy said, as she stretched her limbs as the train finally stopped, allowing us to grab our bags.

Stepping off the train, we headed towards the part of town that had several inns available.

"Were going to have to be careful of the money we spend, Lucy. If we don't, then not only will it be a matter of time before we go hungry, but we won't have a place to stay if and when we do get into a guild." I warned, as I spotted Lucy giving a small magic shop the sparkly eye.

"Yeah, yeah... I know, but I just wanna have a small look..." Lucy begged, as she looked over her shoulder at me; trying her best to put on her puppy dog eyes.

Eyes that only failed to get her way if a serious situation arose. Sighing heavily, I pulled out a small portion of extra money I had, and handed it to her.

"Okay Luce, just cut the puppy eyes. And don't expect me to hand you any more jewels than this! If you find something you want, and this isn't enough, then the only way you'll get it; is if it's out of your pocket..." I warned, as she took the money from my hands, before giving me a Lucy bear hug.

"_YOU'RE THE BEST BIG SISTER EVER!_" She squealed, as she started a bee line to the door.

"And come to the inn we picked out on the map when your done!" I called after her, to which she waved at me to go on.

I couldn't have stopped the smile that came at Lucy's excitement, even if I had tried. Back before we ran away, it was really rare to see a real smile on Lucy's face, much less her being excited over something. It didn't take me very long to see why...

It was because every time she felt that way, her father did something to kill off her joy almost as fast as it sprang forth. Realizing this, I did everything I could to make her smile often. However, I wasn't able to do it as often as I would have liked. Her father noticed it once, and thought that I was being a bad influence to her, and separated us for a week.

A week that nearly killed Lucy...

Literally.

Lucy had become so miserable that she had gotten really sick, and didn't really start to get better until I was permitted to be by her side once more. After that, I didn't let it show. Neither did Lucy.

Reaching the inn, I quickly reserved a two bed room for Lucy and I. With that done, I left to head back towards the store Lucy had split from me to check out.

Only one problem arose.

A _fan _girl problem...

And Lucy was in the very middle of it.

Taking a look at the guy they were looking at, I paused my gaze's ascent to his face, as I caught the small glint from the rings on his hand. One had a heart on it, a love charm that made anyone the user desires fall in love with them. The second had a half a blue face, and a single winking eye. It was a sleeping charm. Both of which had been made illegal.

Growling low in my throat, I looked at the guy whose face I was about to punch into his skull. He didn't look so much as cute. At least to me, but then again, I tended to like the guys who had bad boy attitudes and good looks to match it...

He had dark blueish hair, and a weird looking mark above his right eyebrow. Not to mention that they guy looked like he was getting close to thirty or something...

Letting out a sound of disgust, I moved forward to pull Lucy from his dirty clutches, and let the other women in on his little secret. But before I could so much as take a single step in my sister's direction, I watched as awareness crept over her features, as her eyes snapped away from the pervert, and onto some light pink haired guy pushing girls out of his way.

Lucy sighed in relief before she turned to walk into the inn, and spotted me standing right outside of it.

"Back to your normal self?" I teased her, as she looked at me in horror.

"Don't tell me that you _saw_ all of that!" She squeaked, as I smirked over at her.

"Fine, I won't tell you how much of a fan girl you looked while drooling at the sight of that pervert with the illegal ring charms on his hand." I said in a sing song voice, as Lucy's face turned as red as a tomato.

Laughing softly to myself, I turned back to the group of fan girls who were still under that guy's spell.

"Either way, you'd better hide in the inn room for a while Lucy." I warned, as I glanced over my shoulder at her; only to find my sister looking at me with a worried look on her face.

"Why?" She asked nervously.

"Because I'm about to have a mob of really angry fan girls after my head." I said, with a wary look on my face.

"Okay..." Lucy said, as she turned and ran for the inn like a bat out of hell.

Turning back to the situation, I started walking forward again.

"Igneel! It's me!" I heard the pink headed boy shout, as he got to the center of the crowd of girls, only to pause in his tracks as he finally got a good look at the salamander the girls were going crazy over. "Who the heck are you?" He asked in disappointment.

Going white with shock, the so called Salamander quickly composed himself before answering him.

"Me? Why, I am Salamander. I'm sure you've heard of me before." He said, introducing himself in an arrogant way to the pink headed guy's retreating back.

Then all hell broke loose.

"_YOU'RE SO RUDE_!" One fan girl shouted as she kicked the shit out of the pink headed guy, and gave the rest of the angry mob the chance to pounce on him.

All I could do was watch the scene like a blinking owl. I mean really, what the hell makes a fan girl groupie act like a freaking mindless zombie after the blood of _anybody _who disses the person they're so damn crazy over? The poor guy didn't even stand a chance...

"Now, now my lovely ladies, let him go. I'm sure he didn't mean anything malicious about it." the Salamander said to the girls, who immediately got hearts in their eyes and ran back to crowd around him.

Grabbing a piece of paper and a marker, the guy wrote Salamander on it, and tried to pass it off to the pink haired boy as is autograph. Turning it down, the pink headed guy was then thrown into a pile of trash by the mob of fan girls.

"Well, I'm afraid I must be going ladies. I have some other business to attend to." The Salamander said then, choosing to let the girls be.

"_You're going already!_ " The girls tearfully asked him, as he summoned fire magic to his hands to take him out of the premises...

"I'm having a party on my yacht tonight, and you're all invited!" He shouted as he zoomed off, leaving behind a group of fan girls.

As I watched him go, I could only blink after him before I was able to snap out of it.

"What the hell? I got totally mind fucked..." I muttered to myself, as I looked back over at the guy who had been beaten up by the fan girl mob, as he too, watched the guy go.

"I'm sure glad that guy's gone." I heard Lucy say, as she walked up next to me.

"You're not the only one. If he had stayed even a second longer, then I may have just killed the guy for being an annoyance. Not to mention the migraine I would have gotten..." I said, as I looked back over at the guy who had saved my sister. "But anyway, we should thank that guy over there." I said, nodding my head in that guys direction.

"Yeah... He did help me out didn't he..." Lucy agreed, as she started over to him, as I followed after her.

"Who the heck was that guy?" the pink headed guy said to his blue cat, who only shrugged back at him.

"I don't know, but he sure was a creep." Lucy said, catching their attention. "And thank you for your help." she finished with a smile, only for them to give us confused looks in return.

I couldn't help but smile at them. He had helped us, and he didn't even know it at the time...

"Are you two hungry by any chance?" I asked, as their stomachs answered for them...

…...

_An hour and many empty plates later..._

It was taking everything I had to not laugh at the funny face Lucy was making at the eating habits of our new friends. While their table manners were horrendous, I was at least happy that we could pay them back for helping us out.

"Natsu and Happy huh..." Lucy said, as she held up a napkin to ward off the friendly fire of crumbs that flew at her. Lucky for me, I was out of range.

"Aye." the blue cat, Happy, said for his friend; Natsu, who was stuffing his face as if he wasn't going to be able to eat ever again.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Icelynn, and this is my sister Lucy." I said, introducing us, seeing as Lucy was still dodging flying food.

"Sister huh..." Natsu said around his food, looking at us closely. "Could have fooled me... You don't look related." He said, as he went back to stuffing his face.

"Well... We aren't related... We were raised together as if we were though." Lucy said, throwing a smile in my direction. A smile I couldn't help but return.

"Makes sense." Happy said, as he went back to munching on his grilled fish.

"I still can't thank you guys enough. That jerk was using a charm spell to hypnotize the ladies into thinking that they were in love with him... I wish I knew what guild he was in... I wonder if his guild even knew if that guy was using magic that had been banded a few years back... He must have gone through a lot of trouble to get his hands on them, seeing as no one sells them anymore." Lucy said, thinking back over our earlier encounter.

"Not unless you have contacts to the black market." I muttered, as I finished off the blue raspberry drink I had ordered.

"That makes sense too I guess..." Lucy agreed, as she finished off her fruit punch smoothie.

"Oh, I probably had better explain the guild stuff..." Lucy said, as she began explaining what a guild was, and how they worked to the two in front of us.

Taking a deep breath in boredom, I caught a whiff of the scent that belonged to Natsu. Something seemed awfully familiar about his scent. Sniffing the air one more time, I was sure of what it was.

Natsu definitely had the undertone smell of a dragon...

Did Natsu have a connection to a dragon?

Putting this question aside, I tuned back into the conversation. And just in time to hear what brought Natsu and Happy to Hargeon in the first place.

"There are tons of them all over the world But I hear its more tough to get into the more popular ones And the guild I want to join is the most popular one They're the greatest and their showed in Sorcerer Weekly If I could convince them to let me join Fairy Tail I could just die!" Lucy squealed all in one breath, making me wonder how she survived all of it. And it looked like Natsu and Happy both shared my thoughts.

"You sure talk a lot." Happy muttered.

"I'll say..." I agreed.

"I'm sorry... All of this wizard stuff must sound like gibberish to you huh?" Lucy said, waving her hand in apology.

"Any way... From the looks of things earlier, did you guys come to Hargeon to try and find somebody. You thought that Salamander was someone called Igneel?" I asked them, to which they lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Yeah, we're looking for Igneel." Happy said, putting the bones of the fish he had been eating down on an empty plate.

"We heard a rumor that a salamander was going to be coming through this town, so we came here. Only to find out that it was somebody else." Natsu said, pausing for a second in stuffing his face before continuing.

"Yeah, that guy didn't look like a salamander at all did he?" Happy said, to which Natsu nodded in agreement, as he swallowed his mouth full of food.

"No kidding. I bet you that poser couldn't even breath fire like a real dragon." Natsu said, crossing his arms.

"Wait a minute. I don't get it... Your friend Igneel looks like a dragon?" Lucy asked, a look of confusion on her face.

"No, you got it all wrong. He doesn't look like a dragon, he is one." Natsu corrected, as Lucy's face turned into one of alarm.

To say I was shocked to hear that was an understatement. I had no idea that other dragons had existed besides Storm. I always wondered, but I had never asked.

_So he knows a dragon too... Does that make him what I am too?_ I found myself wondering.

"And he's not just some any dragon. Igneel is a fire dragon!" Happy exclaimed happily, as he brought me back out of my thoughts.

Smiling sadly at their naivety, I dropped the bomb on them.

"I hate to break it to you guys, but a dragon's too big to fit in a town like us. He'd crush everything..." I said, as gently as possible, as it dawned on the other two. They were beyond shock, as I felt myself sweat drop at their innocence of the mind...

_Makes you wonder how he save Lucy from that jerk's spell..._ I thought to myself as Lucy reached into her pocket to pull out some of the money I had given her earlier, and laid it out on the table.

"Well, Icelynn and I need to get going. I hope to see you guys around. Enjoy the rest of your food." Lucy said, as we got up to leave. Only for us to stop and turn around to see Happy and Natsu bowing their heads on the ground in thanks for paying for their food.

I waved it off, as Lucy told them to stand up. After they settled down, we turned and left. Heading for the park this time to discuss where we would be heading next.

…...

_That Night_...

I snapped my eyes open the second I realized that something was amiss. Looking over to the second bed in the inn room Lucy and I had rented for the night, I noticed that Lucy wasn't there.

Sniffing the air, I could tell that she hadn't been here for a couple of hours now. Getting out of bed, I walked over to where Lucy's bag of formal wear, and looked inside of it; and sure enough, her favorite red party dress was missing.

Cursing my luck, and my sister's stupidity, I quickly got dressed, and raced out the door as I thought back to the conversation we had towards the end of our visit to the park earlier that day...

_We were sitting on a bench, and enjoying the cool breeze of the summer afternoon. Lucy was reading the latest copy of Sorcerer Weekly, as I was reading through a book on the history of Fiore, and it's Wizard Guilds when Salamander decided to show up for the second time that day._

_ "Look Icelynn! The centerfold is of Mirajane! Oh, I wish we knew where to go to sign up with Fairy Tail..." Lucy sighed, as the turned the page._

_ Rolling my eyes at her, I kept my attention on the book I was reading. _

_ "So you two lovely ladies wish to join Fairy Tail?" Salamander said, walking out of the bushes behind us. Scaring the crap out of Lucy, as it barely fazed me. Then again, I could smell him the second he stopped to spy on us._

_ "We're aware of your spell, Salamander. If you don't have anything _really_ important to say to us, then you best hit the road before I get angry." I said in a low threatening voice, as the jerk turned his assessing gaze to me._

_ Hearing the very real threat in my voice, they guy fought to not take a step back from me. I couldn't help but smirk into my book as I watched this. He acted tough, and barked tough, but he never would be able to bite tough..._

_ "Just please hear me out... I've been all over looking for you two ladies." He said, trying to sweet talk me into letting him stay. _

_ "Spit it out, then get the hell outta here." I snapped, as I put my book down, and looked at him pointedly._

_ "I wish to ask that you two lovely ladies come and join me at my party this evening..." He offered, smiling at us both._

_ Narrowing my eyes at him, I watched his reactions, as I sniffed at the air. There wasn't something right about this guy..._

_ "Neither one of us would be caught dead at party for a creep like you." Lucy huffed, as she crossed her arms and looked the other way._

_ "Why would you call me a creep?" The salamander asked then, a look of hurt on his face. A look a child could tell was fake..._

_ "Your spell..." Lucy hinted, as she turned to face him once again._

_ "Don't be upset my dear. It's all just good fun. Who wouldn't want to be popular at his own party?" he asked innocently._

_ "I swear, famous wizards can be so stupid..." I muttered to myself, as I picked up my book and stood from the bench to leave, Lucy following my lead._

_ "I can get you two into Fairy Tail..." _

_ This had Lucy whirling around to look at him in shock, while I just glanced over my shoulder at him. _

_ "_You're_ a member of Fairy Tail?" I asked, starting to get annoyed._

_ "You have heard of that Salamander before haven't you?" He asked, as he pointed to himself._

_ "NO WAY! YOU'RE THAT SALAMANDER!" Lucy shouted in shock._

_ Nodding his head once, he then turned to go, but paused to look over his shoulder at us._

_ "I'll get you both into Fairy Tail if you attend my party, and keep the part about my spells secret..." He trailed off, hoping to bait us into coming._

_ "I would love to go to your party tonight!" Lucy shouted, hearts in her eyes. "Won't we Icelynn?" she said, turning towards me._

_ "When hell freezes over..." I said, as Lucy turned white with shock and crumpled to the ground._

_ "My, don't you have a frigid shoulder..." the salamander said, as the continued to walk away. "If you change your mind, be at the dock at eight tonight." he said as he disappeared._

_ As soon as he was gone, Lucy revived herself from the ground with a vengeance._

_ "Icelynn, what the heck? I thought you wanted to join Fairy Tail! Look, I don't like that guy either, but if we just be nice to him for a while, we can finally get into Fairy Tail!" Lucy protested._

_ "Sorry Luce, but if Fairy Tail has guys like him in it, I'm out. Besides, I don't think that creep was telling the truth." I said. "If we want in Fairy Tail, the best place to check it out is at the guild hall in Magnolia."_

_ "Alright..." Lucy said in disappointment. However, that familiar gleam in her eyes that spoke of trouble gave me pause._

_ "Lucy, promise you won't think of going to that party..." I began, only for her to hold up her hand._

_ "I won't go... Jeez..." _

I knew I should have sat her aside and made her giver her word on it, maybe even chain her up to her bed. Instead, I had trusted her while that look was still in her eyes...

As I neared the harbor, I slid to a stop on an outlook of the bay area of Hargeon. Leaning against the rail, I spotted a yacht slowly sailing out of the bay. It had to be Salamander's.

_I swear, if Lucy's hurt, then I'm gonna kill that bastard; then lock Lucy into a room for a week!_ I thought to myself as I felt a growl leave my throat.

"Boy, that was sure a good meal..." I heard a familiar voice say from not too far from me.

Looking to my left, I spotted Natsu and Happy further down. Happy was sitting on the rail, facing the bay, while Natsu was facing the other way as he looked up at the stars.

"Sure was... Hey, you think that boat belongs to that Salamander guy?" Happy asked, as Natsu started looking a little green at the mention of the word _boat_. Not that I could blame him. I could handle any mode of transportation except by boat. However, I couldn't let that worry me at the moment. Lucy was on that ship and I had to go and save her princess ass. And a little bit of help from anyone who could take a beating would be appreciated.

"Natsu! Happy!" I shouted as I ran towards them, catching their attention.

"Icelynn? What are you doing here?" Natsu asked, once he recognized me. I then spent the next few seconds explaining what had happened earlier, and where it now left me and Lucy. By the time I had finished, I noticed that Natsu didn't look too happy.

"Natsu?" I asked, wondering what had him suddenly so edgy.

"You said he claimed to be a member of Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked, look at me more serious than I would have though the dim wit possible.

"Yeah, but I could tell something was off. I tried to get Lucy to stay away, but the dumb blonde that's my sister didn't listen to me. So can you help me or not?" I asked, determined to get to that boat before it got out of reach.

He didn't think about it for long.

"Let's go..."

…...

_Lucy_

I felt my tears of rage as they welled up in my eyes. This jerk, Salamander, was the worst sort of wizard out there. Not only was he using illegal charms, but he was in the illegal trade of slavery too! Just moments ago, I caught him trying to cast a sleeping spell on me. That was when his men came in carrying all of the other girls who had already been put to sleep.

God, I should have listened to Icelynn. Being a dragon slayer, she can tell a person is lying by how their scent changes. She probably didn't come out and say it at the park in case the creep was still watching us.

With just a snap of his fingers, the guys that weren't carrying girls stepped forward, and grabbed me by the wrists so that I couldn't struggle or get away from them.

"You really are quite a handful, Lucy... And it would be wise to behave yourself until we reach Boscow, so don't make me angry." Salamander said, as he threw a dark smirk my way, that had my blood running cold.

"Boscow?... I thought you said you were a member of Fairy Tail?" I shouted, as he just made himself look worse and worse to me.

"Forget that... I just said that to get you to come so you could be made into a slave girl as well." He replied, as he stepped forward, and reached down to snatch my gate keys from my leg holder.

_Damn it! Why did I tell him what type of wizard I was before I knew if I could join Fairy Tail? _ I thought furiously to myself, as I could only helplessly watch as he moved my keys farther away from me.

"So these are your celestial gate keys... Since only one who is contracted to them can use them, they have no use to me." The jerk said, before opening up the window, and tossing them out into the ocean.

As my keys left my sight, I felt the tears I had been holding back spill from my eyes.

"How could you! You'd kidnap all of these girls for slavery! YOU'RE THE WORST KIND OF WIZARD ALIVE! NO, YOU'RE NOT EVEN WORTH CALLING A WIZARD, YOU BASTARD!" I shouted at him, as the men holding me started removing me from the room. Probably to be locked up with the other girls.

However, before I could be carried out of the door, the roof above us caved in; knocking the guys that were holding me captive back. when the debris fell out of the way, I felt my heart skip a beat as my sister, and the guy who had helped us out before stood before us.

"Icelynn! And Natsu!" I shouted in happiness, only for it to die a second later as Natsu nearly fell flat on his face with a green look. Even Icelynn started to look a little green, and wobbly on her own feet.

_Oh yeah, I forgot Icelynn gets sea sick easily..._ I thought in dismay.

A few seconds later, Natsu's blue cat, Happy flew in through the roof opening, and landed on the floor near Natsu.

"Happy!" I shouted, my joy revived when I saw that he wasn't sick at all.

"Lucy! There you are. Icelynn told us what happened earlier." He said, as he flew over to hover over my shoulder.

"Yeah... Only they're even worse than what we thought. These guys were kidnapping me and all of these girls to sell as slaves in Boscow!" I explained, as Icelynn was finally able to walk over to me.

"_LUCY! WHAT THE HELL? DON'T YOU EVER RUN OFF LIKE THIS AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME? TRUST ME NEXT TIME I TELL YOU THE GUY'S PHONEY! HE COULD HAVE KILLED YOU, RAPPED YOU, OR AS HE WAS PLANNING TO DO, AND MAKE YOU A FUCKING SLAVE! AND BESIDES, YOU KNOW BOATS MAKE ME SEA SICK TO SO MUCH AS LOOK AT THEM, AND LOOK AT HOW YOU MADE ME HAVE TO COME ON BOARD ONE! NOT TO MENTION THAT I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH ANY OF YOUR SPIRITS BECAUSE YOU WENT OFF AND DIED ON ME! DON'T FORGET THAT AQUARIUS IS A SUPER PSHYCHO BITCH WHEN SHE'S PISSED OFF!_" She shouted, as she grabbed me by the straps of my dress, and started shaking the life out of me.

Thankfully it didn't last too long before she had to let me go, and grab a near by trash can to throw up in...

…...

_Icelynn_

Wiping my mouth on a table cloth, I turned back to my sister and Happy.

"What the hell! I'll finish yelling at you later!" I shouted, as I pointed at Lucy before turning my attention to the guys in front of me. "Right now, the plan is for Happy to fly you out of here while Natsu takes care of these goons, while I get the girls ready to get off this tin can of sea sickness..." I said, as I placed a hand on my upset stomach. God, how I hated boats...

"But what about you and Natsu?" Lucy asked, as I waved her question off.

"Don't worry about it." I said, as I nodded at Happy, who wrapped his tail around Lucy's waist, and took off with her before she could have any complaints.

Once they were gone, I turned back to Natsu.

"Ready?" I asked him, as the guys he was going to go after ran out side to try and shoot Happy and Lucy out of the sky. Nodding his head, Natsu all but crawled over to the door.

Feeling sorry for the poor guy who had it worse than I did, I turned to the girls, and started waking them up one by one. In no time, all of the girls were awake, and told of the situation. After that, I moved to the door to see how Natsu was holding up on his end of the plan.

He had the guys on the other side of the boat, giving the girls a good opportunity to get to the life boats. However, before I could motion them to go on ahead, the ship was caught up in a sudden tidal wave.

"DAMN IT LUCY! DID YOU HAVE TO SUMMON THE SEA WITCH!?" I shouted at the sea as the boat went flying up into the port, where it landed on its side.

Shaking my head of the sudden dizziness I felt from the change in land from the sea, I got up to make sure the girls were okay. Thankfully, they all had split already. If any were injured, at least the other took care of them.

Crawling out of the wreckage, I looked for either the jack ass who called himself salamander, who I was going to castrate; or the blonde sister I was going to strangle on sight.

I found Lucy first, standing next to Happy. Counting to twenty backwards, _twice_, I calmed my ass down as I walked over to her; constantly reminding myself that I love my sister...

"Oh wait, I heard about that... That salamander wanna be is actually Bora the Prominence. He was kicked out of his guild a couple of years ago for bad behavior." the little blue cat said, as he crossed his arms.

"So that's who the bastard really is..." I muttered under my breath in annoyance, making Lucy jump in surprise and fear as I got closer.

Aquarius may make my sister nervous, but sometimes it seemed like she was more scared of me than the sea hag...

Reaching them, I looked up to where Natsu and Bora were about to face off, when I noticed the mark on his right shoulder.

"Hey Happy, Natsu's a Fairy Tail wizard isn't he?" I asked the small blue cat, who nodded.

Looking back up at the fight again, I watched as Natsu began walking towards the fake salamander.

"I don't care if you're a friend or an enemy, I'm not gonna let you dirty Fairy Tail's name." he said, as the walked closer, step by step.

As Natsu moved closer and closer, a breeze caught Natsu's scent, and blew it back to me.

_There it is again. That undertone smell of dragon I smelled earlier, only it's stronger this time. And it smells like a burning incense... I wonder if Happy could confirm my suspicions..._ I thought to myself, as I eyed both Natsu and his little blue cat. My question had its answer before I could say anything though, when Bora shot a blast of fire magic at Natsu, who only stood there to take the blow full force.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted, as she moved to go see about him, only to have Happy hover in front of her to block her path.

Watching closely, I noticed that the amount of flames were quickly decreasing. It wasn't until they were almost gone that I realized where they had gone. And I wasn't the only one who was shocked. So were Bora, his men, and Lucy.

"God, these flames are so gross... Are you sure you're really a fire wizard?" We heard Natsu say, before he resumed eating the flames surrounding him.

"I've never seen anything like that before..." Lucy said, as she blinked up at Natsu.

"Fire magic doesn't work on Natsu." Happy said, as he smirked up at the guys who were on the receiving end of whatever else his buddy was about to do to them.

Before anyone could ask Happy why, Natsu bumped his fists together, as fire started dancing around his form; as his eyes took on a dragon like appearance. Taking a really deep breath, Natsu braced himself to release a great deal of his magic.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" He shouted, before breathing fire out of his mouth just like a dragon would...

I felt my eyes widen in shock as Bora and his goons were blown away. Some of them turned to try and run away, only for me to use my magic to freeze their feet to the ground.

"Hey Happy... Tell me, is Natsu a dragon slayer by any chance?" I asked the small blue cat, to his surprise.

"Yeah, but how could you tell?" He asked me.

Giving the small cat, I ate the canary smile, I decided to let the cat out of the bag to my new friend.

"Well... I can smell the undertone of a dragon in Natsu's scent. And it helps that I'm a dragon slayer too." I said, giving the small cat a wink.

"Hold on, he's a dragon slayer too!" Lucy almost shouted, as she pointed up at Natsu. "I thought that you were the only one! Well, that explains why he's resistant to fire..." She said in shock.

"Cool! Natsu is a fire dragon slayer, but what kind are you?" Happy asked, a look of wonderment on his face.

"I'm an ice dragon slayer." I answered him, as Natsu then threw the final blow at Bora, effectively knocking him out after shouting something about cooking him like a smoked fish...

"Don't be silly Natsu. You don't cook a smoked fish with fire! You cook it with smoke." Happy said then, giggling as he flew up to where Natsu was.

"That was cool... I think I'd love being in Fairy Tail..." I said as a smirk crossed my face, as I assessed the damage done to the port...

"Yeah, but he over did it..." Lucy agreed.

Natsu's victory was short lived though, seeing as the army then showed up to deal with the damage and Bora. Before either of us could think of what to do, Natsu was in front of us, grabbing both of our hands, and running off with us.

"Oh crap, we gotta get out of here!" Natsu shouted, as he dragged us off.

"Whoa! Were are you taking us?" Lucy called after him, as we tried to keep up with him.

"You two wanna join Fairy Tail right? So lets go! Besides, it's be interesting to have another dragon slayer in the guild, right Icelynn?" he asked us, glancing over his shoulder for a second before looking to where he was going.

Hearing this, Lucy and I couldn't help the smile that crossed our faces, as we finally caught our footing well enough to run on our own.

"Heck yeah!" We both said in unison.

…...

_It took us a few minutes, but we were able to shake the guards after us off. After that, we went back to the inn, packed our things, and now we're on the road for Magnolia where Fairy Tail is located. I can't wait until we get there, I just know that Lucy and I are going to have so much fun! I'll write again as soon as we reach Magnolia. Wish us luck and a safe trip..._

_With love,_

_Icelynn._

…...

I don't own Fairy Tail... Just the character's Icelynn and Storm. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the chapters soon to follow. I'll try to make them as interesting as possible! Seeing as I'm not really good at starting fan fics...

Thanks again!

Bugg18.

PS. I'm curious to see how many of you like either Laxus or Gajeel better... Or if it's both... I would appreciate it if I could find out, but if nobody wants to say, it's fine too.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Tensions Arise

_Storm,_

_ I'm sorry it took so long to write. I've been quite busy with trying to keep my head from detaching from my body and running away. We reached Magnolia safe and well. Well, most of us... Apparently our new friend Natsu, has a major problem concerning motion sickness with any form of transportation except flying. Oh, and did I tell you that Natsu is also a dragon slayer. He was raised by a fire dragon called Igneel. I wonder if hes the same one you sometimes mentioned as your rival? Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter because I know I'm not going to get a reply from you._

_ Lucy and I were able to get into Fairy Tail. Our welcome into the guild itself was pretty wild. Then again, Fairy Tail is a pretty wild guild; at least from what Lucy says whenever she finds an article about them in sorcerer weekly. _

_ We even have guild marks. Lucy's has a small pink one on her hand, while mine is ice blue, and located on the front of my left shoulder. We've been members for almost a year now, and every time I think about it, or see it, I feel really happy. Since joining, it finally feels like Lucy and I have an actual home, and family._

_ There's the guild master, Master Makarov; aka, Gramps as most of them call him. He's like a caring grandfather/father who cares about all of his 'children'. Which is all of his guild's members._

_ There's also Mirajane, who seems like an older sister/mother. She's really sweet, and caring no matter the situation. Though I can tell that there's something deep down that might be really scary. Especially if her nick name in the wizard world is taken into account..._

_ You've also got Erza. She more like the tough older sister type that no body want's to mess with. Kind of how I am towards Lucy I guess. I don't know, but I do know that we get along pretty well._

_ Oh, and I finally know what its like to have brothers. Or, at least brother figures. Natsu, who I've already mentioned, and Gray. Gray's an ice make mage. His magic is similar to mine in the ice element. But that's where any similarities end. Gray has to use both of his hands to make his magic work the right way. That's how he was taught, by what Gray said. It's weird how our magic is basically the same, but we use it differently isn't it? Then again, Gray uses ice make magic, and I, dragon slayer magic._

_ Then there's Happy. Natsu's blue cat who is like the family cat or something. He really is cute and adorable... I wish I had a cat like that..._

_ Well, that's who I've gotten to know the most in Fairy Tail as of this moment. They're rough around the edges, but they are really nice people who look out for their comrades. _

_ I should probably get going now. Tomorrow, I'm going out on another job with the new team Lucy and I have joined in with Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Happy. I just hope this time, it doesn't include a deadly flute made by some wizard who lived four hundred years ago; or a stolen S class job... I'll write again soon._

_With love,_

_Icelynn._

…...

_Icelynn_

When I crawled out of bed this morning, I just wanted to crawl back in and die...

A week ago, Lucy and I had been dragged into taking a stolen job off of the S class board Natsu had Happy steal from the guild.

S class jobs were off limits to regular guild members, and stealing one could apparently get you kicked out of a guild. Thankfully though, Master had some mercy, and said that while we would not be kicked out of the guild, but we would receive a punishment.

From the scared looks that appeared on both Natsu and Gray's faces, I'm not sure if I want to get out of bed. But I got out anyway. Better to go ahead and get it over with as soon as possible.

The problem was that Lucy felt the same way I did. Neither one of us wanted to leave the bed...

Eventually, Lucy was able to come to the same conclusion I had, and got up to get ready too.

As I waited on Lucy to finish up getting ready in the bathroom, I looked over our small dwelling we acquired after reaching Magnolia. We had gotten this small place pretty cheap. Not very many jewels a month, whenever we got enough off of our jobs from not having to pay property damages...

The room itself was pretty much just one room. The kitchen area was on the far side, bathroom was on the left behind the head board of my ice blue bed. The living room/sitting area was the space between my bed, and Lucy's horrid pink color.

It was small, basic arrangement. Lucy's side was on the right, mine the left. Simple, and easy.

If only the locks on the doors and windows were that easy...

…...

_PS. Storm, how do you effectively keep two boys you love as brothers from breaking into your house without killing them? I'm not sure how many lucky days Gray or Natsu have left. Erza stands a better chance that they do..._

…...

Turning to go grab something quick and easy for breakfast, I froze in place as I spotted Erza sitting on the chair that was sitting behind me. Natsu and Gray were both face down on the floor, looks of dread on their faces.

"Erza..." I squeaked out in dread, as she looked up at me, a look of disappointment clear on her face.

"Icelynn, where is Lucy? I'm here to take all of you fools to the guild to be dealt with by the Master." Erza said, as she stood to her feet the same time Lucy came out of the bathroom in her normal clothes.

The second Lucy saw Erza, she turned white as a sheet and deflated from the mixture of fear and shock.

"Shall we go then..." Erza said, once Lucy recovered, and got back on her feet. Grabbing Natsu and Gray by the back of their shirts, she turned and dragged them out of the door towards the guild hall.

Hanging our heads in dread, we quietly followed after Erza.

Five minutes later, we reached the guild hall. Throwing both Gray and Natsu at the door, she waited until they landed inside before following them in. If I didn't know any better, then I'd say she was herding us in like sheep to the slaughter...

"Is Master Makarov here?" Erza asked Mirajane, as she moved forward to meet us.

"You're finally back from your island get away. So, did you have fun?" She asked, a joking note in her voice.

_Yeah... We're screwed..._ I thought, as she turned her eyes to each of us before looking back at Erza.

"It was work, not a vacation." Erza corrected sternly, as she stepped forward. "Where is Makarov?" She asked once again.

"He went out of town for a last minute council meeting. He's been gone since yesterday." Said the guy that was that kid Romeo's dad. I forget his name, but I do remember that the first mission Lucy and I went on with Natsu involved finding out what had happened to him.

Hearing this, we all gave a sign of relief.

"Well that was a close one." Natsu said, as a smile broke across his face.

"Yes! We don't have to worry about _that_ until Gramps gets back." Gray agreed.

"_That_?" I asked them. Ever since we all left me and Lucy's house, He and Natsu had been going on and on about how they didn't want our punishment be _that_. It had Lucy worried, and me nervous. Those two were scared of very little outside of anything to do with Erza being pissed off, or Mirajane in tears; and if they were worried about it, then whatever the hell _that_ is can't bode well for Lucy and I.

"Pray you never find out..." Happy said, with a scared look on his face.

"_ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!_" Erza snapped, effectively making all of us shut our faces up tight before turning back to Mirajane. "Do you know when the Master is planning to return?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, but I believe he should be back at any time now." She said, as Erza swung around to face us.

"Now listen up you fools. You're not getting off the hook. You broke guild rules by taking on that S class quest, so prepare to be punished." She said, as Gray, Natsu, and Happy all huddled up in fear, as Lucy latched herself on to me like I could save her ass. Hell, mine was in trouble too!

"Nice knowing you guys..." Said another guild member I had yet to learn the name of. "It's a crying shame... Those two boys are one thing, but I can't believe that Lucy and Icelynn are getting punished too... Oh you poor girls." He said, as he put a cigarette in his mouth.

"_Poor girl_..." Lucy squeaked in fear, while I could only blink like an owl.

"What's the deal man! How come you don't feel sorry for us?" Natsu demanded, as he and Gray stalked over to him and started a brawl.

"What about me!? I'm the cutest one here, so why isn't anyone feeling sorry for me?" Happy cried, as he floated passed us to hover around the small fight, which Erza quickly ended with a single look.

With the small fight ended, everyone in the guild went back to what they were doing. Erza sat down at the bar, her back facing it as she kept a really close watch on me, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Gray.

Poor Lucy still had a look of dread on her face, as she tried to get someone to tell her what our punishment was going to be.

"This is sure one creepy looking job request..." Heard Natsu say, as he tore it off of the request board, and brought it over to us.

"Put it back, Natsu. No requests until the Master get's back." Erza said, trying to get Natsu to take it back.

"Geez, I can't really read it..." Natsu said, completely ignoring her.

"_ 'Decipher this text, and I'll see that you'll increase your wealth by 500,000 jewel_'. " I read it off, as Natsu finally caught letters he could read.

"This one sounds like a winner to me. What do you guys think?" Natsu asked, as he looked up to see what we thought.

"So it's a translation job. That sounds like a weird request for a guild." Gray said, as he too walked over to take a look at it. "Looks like some of that ancient stuff... Nobody in here would be able to read that."

"Hold on, its written in modern letters too!" Happy said, as he hopped up on the table to look.

"Really." Natsu said, as he turned it around to see what it said.

If I had known that a horrific experience awaited the end of what he was about to read, I would have stopped him.

…...

_The Next Day..._

_When I was finally back in my own body, to say I was relieved would be an understatement. Apparently, the body switching spell was our punishment for stealing that S class mission. Compared to how it could have turned out, I'd say that this was a slap on the wrist._

_ However, that was the least of my concerns of yesterday..._

_ Last night, I had a strange dream. A dream about our guild hall being torn apart. Don't mind it though. I'm sure it's just a silly dream, and nothing to worry over. Though it makes me wish that you were here to tell me I'm just being silly. I don't know why you left Storm, but..._

_ Whatever your reasons, I trust you._

_Stay well,_

_Icelynn._

…...

Folding up the letter, I tried to not let last night's dream overwhelm my mind. The bad feeling I've been having since I got up this morning wasn't helping anything either. I could smell trouble on the horizon, and it bothered me that I couldn't tell what was coming.

Whatever it is, I'm just happy that yesterdays disaster had been taken care of. Any of the ones who had been switched around couldn't use the magic they had, and if something bad happened, they would have been the first ones to get hurt.

"Icelynn, are you okay? You look as though you didn't sleep well last night." Lucy said, as she walked over to hand me a freshly baked blue berry muffin.

"I'm fine. It was just a strange dream is all." I said, as I thanked her for the muffin, and stood up from our shared writing desk.

"Dream? Did something bad happen in it?" She asked, as I tensed up at thinking about it. "You don't have to say if you don't want to..." Lucy said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

As she moved to walk back into the kitchen, I spoke...

"When the dream started, I saw the guild hall, but it had been destroyed. All throughout the ground floor up where these gigantic iron rods that had impaled the guild hall. Then it grows dark, and the guild hall fades away to a tree covered in shards of iron. In the background, I can hear something hitting the ground. As if someone had fell to the ground without trying to stay up. And I can smell someone... Someone who smells like iron and a hint of a dragon. The last thing I saw before waking up were these red eyes that looked so much like a dragons, looking dead at me..." I said in a low voice, as though I feared that if I spoke too loudly, my nightmare might come true.

"Are you sure it was just a dream, Icelynn? It sounds more like a glimpse into the future to me..." Lucy asked, worry clear on her face.

Shaking my dark thoughts from my mind, I turned and smiled at my sister.

"It was just a dream Luce. Come on, we're talking about Fairy Tail here! I don't think anybody is stupid enough to do something like this to us. Not with all the hot heads running around in the guild." I said, trying to reassure her. Only for it to sound fake to my own ears.

Giving me a wary look, she said okay, and returned to the kitchen. We were heading to the guild today to report on the job request we finished up with yesterday.

Just as we were about to leave, Natsu, Gray, and Erza all slipped into our house through anything but the front door. Lucy and I could only blink at them, and just as Lucy was about to scold them, I stopped her.

On all of their faces was a serious look.

"What's the matter you guys?" I asked, going serious myself.

It was a few minutes later, standing in front of the guild hall that I found out why. To my horror, the guild hall looked just like it did in my dream. Lucy looked at the guild hall, then back at me. When she started to say something, I quickly shook my head. Now was not the time to ask questions.

"I don't understand... Why on earth would anybody do this to our guild hall?" Lucy asked, forgetting the subject of my dreams for now.

"Our guild..." I heard Natsu growl at the wreckage. "Someone did this to our guild..."

"But who would do such a thing?" Erza asked, as she sadly looked over the damage.

"It was Phantom Lord." I heard Mirajane say, as she came up from behind us.

"Phantom?" Gray asked, a look of shock on his face.

"Phantom did this!?" Natsu shouted, as he turned his angry eyes on the rest of us.

"We couldn't do anything about it. Everyone had gone home for the night, when whoever did this struck." Mirajane said, tears welling up in her eyes as she explained it to us.

"So no one was hurt?" Lucy asked. When Mirajane shook her head, Lucy sighed in relief.

"Mira, where's Master?" I asked her.

"Come with me..." She said, as she then led us down to the basement of Fairy Tail, where a temporary bar had been set up, and a request board. Near the board sat Master Makarov...

A very drunk Master Makarov.

"Yo! Whatss up kidss!" He said, completely drunk off of his ass.

"Um... Hi..." Lucy said, awkwardly in reply.

"Sorry we weren't here sooner..." Erza said, apologizing.

"What's everyone just sitting around for!" Natsu demanded.

All the while Gray, Happy, and I just kept our mouths shut.

"So how did it go, Lucy? You finish the job like a good girl?" Master continued to ask Lucy, flat out ignoring Erza and Natsu.

"Yeah..." Lucy answered, as she proceeded to hide behind me. I couldn't blame her. If he had spoken to me like that, I would have hidden behind someone too...

"Master, do you understand the gravity of this situation?" Erza tried again, interrupting his creepy trance he was currently giving off.

"Come on, Gramps! The guild hall is completely destroyed!" Natsu shouted.

"Calm yourselves... There's no need to get so wound up... Nobody was here when this was done, so it does nothing but show how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord Guild really are." Master said, refusing to leave the drunken stupor he's put himself in.

"He has a point. We really should consider ourselves lucky that no one was here to get hurt." I said, agreeing with him. "And don't get me wrong Natsu, I want to hit them back with the same force amplified ten fold; but no body was hurt, so it's best to save your energy in case they try something like this again." I said, as I caught the look of rage Natsu was throwing my way.

I wasn't lying. Seeing the guild hall like this made the dragon blood in my system boil into a frenzy. Already, I could feel my sight sharpening, meaning that my eyes have probably turned a light, pale blue, with slits as pupils. My dragon eyes...

The worried look in Lucy's eyes confirmed my suspicions.

"You okay Icelynn?" she asked, worried that I might be loosing my control.

"Yeah... It's fine as long as it's my eyes turning into that of a dragons, and not my hair turning colors." I replied, reassuring her.

"So you can enter your dragon slayer form, then?" Master Makarov asked me, in attempt to turn the situation away from the torn up guild hall.

"Yes... And intense emotions, like rage can bring it out. I can enter it, but sometimes, a little bit too easily... this incident is just one of them." I said, as I placed a hand over my eyes, and cleared my mind of my thoughts and emotions.

Thankfully, it allowed my eyes to cool back to their normal dark blue color.

"I know it seems fascinating Gramps, but isn't there anything we can do?" Natsu asked, completely uninterested. Not that I took offense or anything, seeing as he is too a dragon slayer and all.

"We don't need to be worrying ourselves with people who wont even fight us face to face... Just forget about those fools." Master Makarov said, as he finished off the drink he had in his hand.

"_YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN GRAMPS!"_ Natsu shouted, as he smashed a near by crate with his bare hands. Apparently, that was not the answer he had wanted to hear.

Getting sick of it, I reached over and punched Natsu up side his head, knocking him to the ground.

"What the hell!? Icelynn! What did ya do that for!?" He shouted up at me.

"Shut up Natsu... The master says let it be, so we let it be." I said, glaring down at him.

Thankfully, allowing him to see the penned up rage I was bottling up inside was enough to get him to calm his flame ass down. He wasn't the only one hurting over what the guild had suffered. Every member here felt that way, and would love to give pay back. And if they can be grown up enough to let it go, so could he...

"Fine..." he said in a pissed off tone, as he got to his feet, and stormed off to simmer down a bit.

"As for the rest of you, I'm done talking about it. Job requests will be handled down here until the up stairs can be repaired." Master said, as he then jumped from where he was sitting, and went off to God knows where.

"Are you sure Icelynn?" Lucy asked. At first, I thought she meant how my dragon slayer side nearly came out; but I caught on to what she really meant. The dreams I had been having.

"Yeah... Why don't you go check on Natsu." I said, as I turned to follow after the master.

When I finally caught up with him, he was waiting just outside of he basement entrance.

"Something you need to ask about Icelynn?" He asked, all drunken stupor pushed back. He was still drunk, but thankfully serious.

"I'm not sure how to say this..." I began, as I then proceeded to tell him everything about my strange dream.

"I see... If you dreamed of this happening my dear, then I'd say there is some merit to what you've seen... Did you happen to see who it was that got attacked, or the attacker?" He asked, as he walked towards where the main floor of the guild was.

"I didn't see who either one was... But I did recognize a scent." I said, as I followed after him.

Makarov didn't say another word as we reached the main guild floor. When I saw the inside of the guild, I felt my eyes sharpen once again, as a growl of fury came out of my throat. Clutching my hands into fists, I tried to keep my fury in. Already, my nails had lengthened, and sharpened into claws.

There was barely any room to walk. The up stairs area was completely blocked off. In the middle of the floor was a strange symbol painted in black. However, it wasn't the sights that set me off...

It was the smell the intruder had left behind.

"Icelynn, I want you to be completely honest with me... Do you smell the same scent here, as you did in your dream?" Master asked me, his eyes fixed on mine, waiting for my answer.

"In the dream, I smelled a dragon slayer... A dragon slayer who smelled of dragon, and iron... That same dragon slayer was the same person who did this to the guild hall..." I ground out between snarls of fury.

Nodding his head once, the master then looked at the guild symbol on the floor.

"The symbol on the floor is that of the Phantom Lord guild... And if what you say is true, then I fear we were more fortunate than what we realize. If the person you smell is the dragon slayer of Phantom Lord, then things could have been much worse." He explained, as he turned to look up at me again.

"Really... Who is he?" I asked, as I felt a dangerous part of my transformation starting.

"From what I've heard, the master of this guild, Jose... An old rival of Fairy Tail's; has five S class wizards that are both well known, and his strongest. Like this guild's Mystogen, and my grandson Laxus... Four of the five are known as the Element Four. All are mages who posses one of the four basic elemental magics. But the one you are asking about, my dear, is their resident dragon slayer... Black Steel Gajeel..." he said, as I felt my eyes widen in shock...

"Gajeel Redfox... One of the two top contenders for the strongest mage in the Phantom Lord guild..." I muttered out in a low, shocked voice.

"So you've heard of him..." Makarov observed, as he watched my reactions closely.

Yeah, I had heard of this man... It was possibly the first, and only time I had ever snatched Lucy's copy of Sorcerer Weekly from her. The copy had been issued not too long after we had joined up with Fairy Tail... In the article that covered the damage done to a dark guild that had been recently disbanded and destroyed, it said something about how out of all the known dragon slayers, that Gajeel seems to act more like a dragon that a human... It didn't show a picture of the actual person, just the damage left behind.

Now that I think about it, the guild he destroyed looked worse than ours did at this very moment.

"Icelynn... If it was Gajeel who did this to our guild hall, then you and Lucy must not go off by yourselves. In fact, I know this is sudden, but I may even consider placing another of the girls in the guild with you two until this mess clears up. One that lives alone... I have a feeling that things aren't over with yet..." Master said, as he left the main floor to head back down to the basement.

"Sure thing Gramps..." I agreed, as I too left.

…...

_Later That Night..._

I'm not sure when the dream started, but it was starting out much the same as last night. I saw the skewered guild hall, but that's where the similarities ended...

When it was supposed to go to the tree, everything was different...

Instead of the tree, I saw a side street. And Levy was walking down it with Jet and Droy. They weren't running or anything, just talking cheerfully.

"Levy, are you sure you shouldn't' stay at Fairy Hills?" Jet asked her, as she walked slightly ahead, and between the two boys.

"It's fine... I just don't want to split up our team..." She responded with a smile, as the two idiots behind her fell over in shock and happiness.

I couldn't help but smile as I saw this, but only to have it die on my lips a moment later, as I noticed a dark shadow on top of a near by roof. A shadow that had familiar, glowing red eyes.

Before I could shout for them to run, the shadow jumped from the walls, and struck without warning. The last thing I saw in my dream, was Levy falling to the ground.

"_LEVY!_" I shouted, as I found myself bolting straight up out of bed, hitting someone on the forehead along the way. From the sound of the voice cursing on the floor by my bed, I'd say that it had been Gray I had head butted.

I took one look at Gray, and a single glance at everyone else before I was out of bed, grabbed my light gray tank top, and black shorts, and ran to the bathroom. Dressing as quickly as I could, I ran to the window Natsu always sneaked in through, and jumped out to the street.

"Wait Icelynn! Come back!" I heard my sister shout at me from the window, but I ignored it. I had to get to Levy. She was in trouble, as were Jet and Droy. They were no match for the person that had targeted them.

"I swear, if you lay a hand on either one of my friends, I'll tear you apart with my own hands! DO YOU HEAR ME?_ YOU HEAR ME GAJEEL REDFOX!_"

…...

_I'm sorry Storm... I know I broke my promise to not go looking for fights, but this dragon slayer had it coming. He was going to hurt my friends, so I have no choice but to deliver a world of hurt..._

…...

Next Chapter – Chapter 3 – Phantom Lord


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Phantom Lord

_Icelynn..._

As I ran through the darkened, empty streets of Magnolia, I kept all of my senses alert. The quickest way I would be able to locate Levy and her team, is through their scents.

And time wasn't on my side...

Barely a minute had passed since I jumped from the window of me and my sister's small apartment before It had started to rain. I had to hurry and find their scents, and find them before the rain could wash them away. I just hope that I'll find them before that bastard Gajeel does.

Wile I ran, I could hear Lucy, an dour friends in the far background trying to find me. I knew that if I had Natsu's nose in on the search, that the chances of finding them before Gajeel would rise. However, the time it would take to explain was too high of a price. For all I knew, Gajeel had probably done the damage already...

And the next corner I turned... Had only proved my worse fears true.

In the middle of the narrow street was several drops of blood. Walking over to them, I could tell that it was a mix of both Jet, and Droy's blood. Thankfully , I couldn't see of smell any blood that belonged to Levy. Even though I could sense the fear and adrenaline in the scent she left behind. It was faint through, as if the attack had been quickly executed.

Gajeel would be a tough opponent to beat. Especially if he could out do Jet in speed, even if its for a split second.

Speaking of Gajeel, his scent was the next one I could pick up. I could smell the iron and dragon like before, only I could pick up his personal smell this time. If dark and dangerous had a scent, then his smell would have been it. To me, it was a nice smell, especially with the accents of iron and dragon mixed in.

_Snap out of it, Icelynn! Yeah, the guy has a nice smell; but he's done something horrible to your friends!_ I mentally shouted at myself, as I began following his scent.

Growling low in my throat, I concentrated on finding my friends.

…...

_Gajeel..._

I couldn't help but smirk down at the three fairies I had just caught and clipped the wings of. If Fairy Tail was gonna need a bigger motive to come after us, then the present I was about to leave them would do nicely.

The two guys I took down first were easy enough. Even though the one in the funny looking hat had dodged the first punch I had thrown at him. That fucker was fast on his feet. The small, blue headed shrimp was even easier to knock out. All I had to do was barely tap her upside the head to do her in.

As I moved to put the clipped fairies on display, I froze as the smell of fresh fallen snow and ice hit my nose. It was so sudden, that I found myself looking up at the night sky, like I was expecting it to start snowing at any given moment.

Then I could smell it... The smell that belongs to a dragon... Or more accurately, the undertone smell that a dragon slayer developed from learning the lost magic. Not to mention that the dragon slayer was getting closer.

_How did anyone find out? These weak fairies didn't have time to so much as scream; and I didn't even know that I was going to do this until a few hours ago myself..._ I thought in confusion, as I grabbed the two guys under one of my arms, and threw the shrimp over my opposite shoulder. It was time to change locations.

I was still going to display the fairies, but not in a place where a vengeful fairy could easily stab me in the back without warning. Besides, if I play my cards right, I'll have an extra fairy to play with...

…...

_Icelynn..._

When I finally caught up to them, I froze in horror at the sight before me.

"Levy... Jet... Droy..." I whispered, as my voice tried to slip away from me.

All three of them where pinned to the huge tree I had been seeing in my dreams, with their hands pinned to the three above their heads by scraps of iron. Levy hung in the middle, with her navy blue vest torn open. And on her stomach, the guild symbol for the Phantom Lord guild was pained in blood.

Below her, sitting at the base of the tree, waiting, was the shadow that had gone after them. The man with the red eyes, from the dreams.

"I see that the fairies have acquired another dragon slayer." He said in a dark, smooth voice that had shivers threatening to crawl down my spine.

Fighting the shivers back, I turned my pale blue eyes to the red ones of the walking dead man before me, as I tried to keep my emotions under control. Getting pissed off, and striking out in anger will only land me being pinned to the tree along with Levy and her team behind him.

"Your the one known as Black Steel Gajeel." I said, as a snarl of fury escaped past my lips. I didn't need to ask, I already knew.

"You followed me all the way out here, knowing full well who I was..." Gajeel chuckled, as he stood to his feet, and walked into the dim light the moon overhead was giving off. "I hope that you realize what a dumb move this is." he said, as his gaze measured me up.

Doing the same, I took in his appearance, how he carried himself...

He had to be at least five foot eleven. (I'm not sure how tall Gajeel is. Natsu is 5'9", and Gajeel appears to be a bit taller to me...) He had broad shoulders, and muscular arms. Definitely a really strong guy use to being in fights. With the way his eyes were glowing, he loved them too. They excited him, made his blood run...

In fact, I could see it in his eyes, the hope that I'll put up a good fight. The way he eyed me, was how I would describe a wolf sizing up his prey before the hunt even began. From what I could tell in the lighting, he looked like he could be tan, which matched his long spiky black hair, and red eyes match really well. His eyebrows were pierced along the length of him, as well as his nose, and chin. Just enough to add to his bad boy look, but not to be too excessive.

Had we have been under different circumstances, then I would have thought that he looked good.

Unfortunately, behind him were friends he had beaten up. That was a bad major set back. Not to mention that the good looking bad boys always were on the wrong side of the picture. Very few are on the right to begin with, and normally when they are, they're easily killed off...

"Why did you do this?" I demanded, as I felt my blood rise to a boil under the surface of my skin, as I took in the injuries of Levy and her team.

"If I told you that, then the surprise will be ruined. I've worked too hard to let that happen now." Gajeel said, as he took another step towards me, in which I let out a warning snarl.

"Oh, this is going to be fun... You gonna go rabid on me, sweetheart?" He asked, a evil smirk on his face.

"I don't know... You gonna beat up on my friends again?" I said, mimicking his actions, as my anger grew, and a familiar tingle start in my scalp.

_Calm yourself Icelynn! Anger will only let him win!_ I snarled to myself, as I took a ready stance.

"What... Like _this_?" He mockingly asked, as he turned his fist into an iron pole identical to the ones decorating the guild all, and randomly threw a punch at the tree behind him. When it hit, the blow landed mere inches from the top of Levy's head.

It was all my inner dragon needed to snap...

…...

_Gajeel..._

To be dead honest, I was disappointed. I hadn't expected my little distraction to make the female dragon slayer of Fairy Tail snap. Then again, she was a fairy, so making such a potential fatal mistake was bound to happen right away.

Lucky for her, I wasn't here on an extermination mission.

Besides, it would have been a shame to kill such a nice looking fairy. Not to mention one who had just as much of a thrill for a fight as I did. Weather or not she realizes it or not...

_I might have even decided to reward her for landing a scratch on me, had she gotten that far_... I thought to myself, as a sharp sudden pain began on the bottom left side of my lip. Snaking my tongue over to that area, I could taste blood.

"Well I'll be damned..." I muttered out loud, as I ran my thumb over it to inspect the wound.

So she had managed to land a hit on me after all. The second she snapped, and sprung at me, I thought I felt something on that side of my face. Like it tickled or something. I completely believed that I had dodged her sudden punch before landing a blow to the back of her head, and a quick pinch to the nerve point to knock her unconcious.

At the moment, I had pinned her to the base of the three below the blue headed shrimp. And seeing as she was closer to the ground, I made sure to pin both of her legs to the tree as well. And it was a good choice too, see as she made to kick me in the balls when she woke up a few seconds later. Only to be hindered by the restraints.

"Bastard..." She growled out, her pale blue eyes glaring daggers at me, as they began to cool to a deep blue. You could tell that she was having trouble focusing on her surroundings.

"Says the fairy that lost it in a fight... Though I must congratulate you for getting me good." I said with a smirk, as I showed her my busted lip.

"Oh, I'll get you even worse next time..." She said, a smirk crossing her lips as she slipped back under again.

"I look forward to it..." I said, as the first rays of dawn began creeping over the horizon. Queuing me in that it was time to leave before these four were discovered.

"Until next time, _Ice Fairy_." I said, as I disappeared. Time to report back in to Master Jose at our guild hall.

…...

_Lucy..._

"Don't worry Lucy, well find her." Natsu said, as he glanced worriedly back at me. For the last few hours, we've been searching for Icelynn, after she jumped through the window of our apartment the moment she woke up from what appeared to be a nightmare.

"I hope so..." I said, as we kept looking. Four hours ago, the sun rose above the horizon. It was now early morning, and Icelynn was no where to be found.

Erza and Gray went on to the guild hall to see if that's where she was. Happy had also flown off to look for her at a bird's eye view. I had a bad feeling that something had happened. I just knew that something wasn't right.

"Natsu! Lucy!" It was Happy, flying towards us.

"Hey little buddy. You find her?" Natsu asked, as Happy hovered shoulder level to him.

"No... But the town square is in a buzz over something. In fact, there was a crowd of people staring at the big tree there." he said, as he pointed in its direction.

At this, my bad feeling increased.

"Alright... Let's go check it out Luce." Natsu said, as he ran off in that direction, as I ran behind him.

As we ran, Erza and Gray also reported in. Saying that Icelynn hadn't been there since we left last night. Nodding, I filled them in as to where we were going, and why.

However, my explanation died the second I heard what Natsu said next.

"What the hell..." He said in almost a whisper as I looked at him.

"Natsu?" I asked, as I looked around him to see what had caused him to have such a reaction. The sight that met my eyes had me speachless.

Against the tree, pinned with their arms above their heads were Jet and Droy, with Levy in the middle. All three of them looked like they had been beaten up, and Levy had a different guild symbol painted on her stomach.

However, the worst of them, hung below Levy.

Icelynn had both her hands, and her feet pinned against the tree, and she was beaten up worse than the other three. Her bruises were darker, and her cuts looked deeper.

This was why she flew out of the house like a bat out of hell. She must have had a premonition or something, that this would happen to Levy and her team, and rushed off to try and stop it.

Apparently, she must not have made it in time, and gotten hurt herself.

I felt the tears that had been welling up in my eyes spill over as I looked at them. Who would do something so horrible to another person? And why did Icelynn rush off to stop it alone? If we had been with her, then we could have stopped this from happening together!

"It was Phantom Lord..." I heard Natsu growl from in front of me, as he looked at the sight before him in a fixed rage. Looking over to Gray and Erza, I could see similar looks.

"Move aside... We're from their guild." Erza said, as she began clearing a path to the tree.

Following after her with Gray and Natsu, I tried to stop the flow of tears. Crying right now wouldn't help anything at the moment. As we got closer, I could see that they were being held against the tree with pieces of iron, shaped to look like shackles.

"Whoever did this, was the same person who destroyed the guild hall." Gray said, as he too, spotted the iron.

That was also when the master showed up.

He was quite, as he walked up to the three, where he stopped, and looked up at Icelynn, Levy, and her team. A second later, the staff he normally carried was a pile of splinters in his hand.

"I can take the guild hall being reduced to a pile of rubble... But I will not stand by as they make my children suffer!" He shouted, as a huge wave of energy flew off of him, as his eyes began to glow yellow.

"Master... Maka...rov..." Icelynn whispered out then, making the master's attention snap to her. Growing his arm out, he ripped the iron shards that were holding her against the three. Lowering her to the ground, he then shank back to his normal size, and walked up to her.

"Icelynn, my child; who did this?" He asked gently.

"Ga... jeel..." She said, as she groaned in pain from her wounds. "Had a... bad dream... That he was going after... Levy... I was... too late..." she managed to say, before she turned her head to the side, and passed out once again.

"Lets get them to the healers. Natsu, Gray, you two get Levy and her team down. Erza, you and Lucy take Icelynn on ahead. Once they're settled, prepare yourselves._ FAIRY TAIL DECLARES WAR ON PHANTOM LORD!_" He shouted, as he then stormed off in the direction of the guild hall.

…...

_Icelynn..._

The first thing I could feel as I woke up was a dull throb of a pain. I could feel it over various places all over my body. It felt like I went through the training from hell with Storm all over again. Only the wounds causing the pain wasn't from training with Storm, it was from another dragon slayer.

An enemy dragon slayer. Gajeel from Phantom Lord...

Opening my eyes slowly, I looked around the small room I was in. On three beds to the the left of me were Levy, Jet, and Droy. All of which were still asleep.

"You're awake."

Looking over to who had just spoken, I spotted Mirajane sitting in a chair by the window. She had a grim look on her face.

"Mira... What happened?" I asked. I could tell by the look on her face, and her scent. Something went down while I was out.

"While you were out of it, master declared war on Phantom Lord for what Gajeel had done to you four." She said, as she turned to look out the window, as the messed up guild hall we had yet to finished putting back together.

"Are they still fighting?" I asked, as I sat up. As I moved, I could feel the bandages around me. Looking down, I saw that my neck, right arm and shoulder, and stomach were covered in bandages.

"They got back about an hour ago... Things didn't end well for us. The master was taken down by some sort of magic draining spell... Bisca and Alzack have taken him to one of master's old friends. She's the only one who can help him now..." She said, as she stood to her feet, and walked over to where I was.

"And while that was going on, Natsu split off from the group to go and save Lucy, who had been kidnapped." She said, as she watched my reactions.

Hearing this, I whirled on her.

"Where is she? She alright?" I demanded.

"She's fine. She's at the guild hall... Icelynn..." She said, making me pause in getting out of bed. "We know everything..."

I froze at this. What did she mean by _everything?_

"What do you mean?" I asked, a worried look on my face.

"We know that Lucy is the daughter and heir of the Heartfilia family, and you are the ward of the family, Icelynn Lace..." Mirajane said, as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "I don't understand why you and Lucy had to keep it a secret, but I trust it was for a good reason... You should go see about Lucy... She's really torn up about this."

Getting up from the bed, I put on the spare clothes Mira handed me, and headed out.

The second I arrived in the basement of the guild hall, everyone went as quite as the dead as they looked at me. Every one of them watched as I walked over to where I had spotted Lucy sitting on a crate, with Natsu, Gray, Erza, and a number of other guild members stood around her.

"You alright, Luce?" I asked her, ignoring the questioning look of everyone.

"I'm really sorry Icelynn... I had no choice but to tell them everything... I felt that they deserved to know after what I found out!" Lucy cried, as she looked up at me, pleading with me to forgive her.

"Slow down, Lucy... Are you alright? Mirajane said that you had been kidnapped?" I asked, as I watched her closely.

"I was kidnapped by Phantom Lord's elemental four... But that's not the important part Icelynn... They were paid to kidnap not only me, but you too! By my father!" Lucy said, looking up at me with sadness in her eyes. "At least, that's what their guild master had told me. He said that my father paid them to tear Fairy Tail apart to get to us if they had to..." She finished in a weak voice, as tears began to fall down her face.

A second later, a nearby crate was turned into splinters by one of Natsu's fists.

"Well, they're not getting either one of you!" He snarled in anger, as his fist then burst into flames.

"Damn straight! They ain't getting away with trying to take one of us away!" Gray agreed, as the room temperature dropped a few degrees.

This had Lucy and me looking at them with wide eyes. I couldn't help but smile at them as they said this. I know I said that Fairy Tail was home to me and Lucy, but I should have expected its members to be like the family neither of us have had in years.

"Listen to them Lucy..." I said, as I turned back to her. "We have a family now, in the members of Fairy Tail. And you and I both know that to have a family, blood isn't a requirement. Look at us, were sisters, even though we have two completely different sets of parents." I said, as I turned to look at everyone watching us.

"I love this guild... Joining it was the best thing we could have done, Sis." I said, giving her a thumbs up, as I slid my gray tank top off of my shoulder to bare my guild mark.

"Yeah... And we'll get them back for this too." Gray said, as he leaned his back against the wall.

"I know, but I'm not worried about that." Lucy said, as she hung her head in self shame. "Still, it's just that... It's all my fault... Even your part to play in this is my fault Icelynn." She said.

"Being targeted by dangerous people is just one of the downsides of being rich. At least you're being a protected by a real _man_ like me..." Elfman, Mirajane's younger brother said in his own little way. The guy always went on about being a real man, but was a softie inside...

"Just give it a rest will ya!" Gray snapped.

"I've gotta say I was shocked when I heard the news... Why did you have to hide that from us Lucy... Icelynn?" Happy asked, looking up at us with sad eyes.

"We didn't mean to hide it... It just never came up. It's not like its easy to bring up the fact that your a runaway in a casual conversation. Besides, it worked in our favor for a while, considering that the less people knew, the less chance we would have at being found; but I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later." I explained, as Lucy went back to staring at her own two feet.

"We've been gone for a year, and my father hasn't cared about what happened to his daughter, and his ward." Lucy began. "And now he wants to force us to come home for some unknown reason. He's done all of those horrible things to get Icelynn and me to come back. I hate his guts; and you even more so Icelynn!" she exclaimed, as her tears turned to those of anger.

"Even though, it's my fault..." She began.

"No it isn't-" I started to interrupt, only for her to cut me off.

"IT IS!" Lucy shouted up at me. "It's my fault... Even if you helped me to run away, it's still on me because you did what you did because I wanted to get out of there. You could leave easily on your own, but you stayed because you saw me as a little sister..." Lucy muttered, as she hung her head once again.

"I'm so sorry. I'll just go home and..." Lucy started again, only to be interrupted once again. This time, in the form of Natsu, who squatted down next to her, and hugged her.

"I don't know about that Luce... I just don't see you playing the part of the pretty princess sitting still in your mansion." Natsu said, as he let Lucy go to stand to his feet again, to look down at her. "It's too late for that image... I've seen you laughing with us here in the guild... Out on adventures even though you freak out all the time... _That's_ who you really are."

_Well I'll be damned... Natsu can be pretty wise sometimes..._ I found myself thinking with a smile as I looked at the two of them. _And come to think of it... They look rather cute together..._

"And besides... I heard you Lucy. You said that you wanted to stay with us here in Fairy Tail. So why go home?... To me, you're not Lucy Heartfilia; you're Lucy of Fairy Tail... No more running. You belong with us, Luce." He said, smiling down at her.

Lucy couldn't help but cry at hearing this. Who wouldn't...

"_DAMN IT LAXUS! WE CAN'T FIND MYSTOGEN, AND THE MASTER IS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD HELP US RIGHT NOW! PHANTOM LORD IS TRYING TO KIDNAP TWO OF OUR NEWEST GUILD MATES LUCY AND ICELYNN!_" We heard Mirajane shout, as we looked over to see her talking into a communication lacrima to a blonde headed guy with a lightening shaped scar through his right eye.

"Do I even know who that is? Oh yeah, the two new chicks. One is blonde, with her older sister with black hair and blue eyes right? Talk one of them into being my woman, and I'll do anything she wants..." I heard the creep Laxus say, as he let a _I'm the king, bow down_ smirk across his face. The kind I loved to wipe off the faces of ass holes.

"_YOU ARE SUCH A PIG!_" Kana shouted at him, as she stood from where she had been trying to locate Mystogen through her card magic.

"You sure you wanna talk that way to a guy you're begging to help ya?" He smartly asked her, before turning to look back at Mirajane. "Do me a favor. Next time you see the old geezer, tell him he's over the hill; and he should hand the guild over to me." He said, as I calmly walked over to his line of sight next to Mirajane.

"Icelynn?" She asked, a worried look on her face.

"So you're Laxus..." I said, ignoring her. "I must say, I thought that being a part of this guild you want control of so much; that you'd come to help keep it from being destroyed."

Raising an eyebrow, Laxus put his arrogant smirk back in place.

"Icelynn huh... One of the two new girls... You look better up close..." He said, as he visibly eyed me.

"Do I?... Well, all I have to say about the whole_ talking Blondie or her sister into being my woman_ thing... all I have to say to you is _NOT A CHANCE IN HELL EVEN IF IT FROZE OVER!_" I shouted at him, as I snagged the lacrima up, tossed it in the air, and punched it against the wall.

I barely even felt the pain in my hand as shards of the glass embedded themselves into my skin from my punch, nor the blood that was freely flowing.

…...

_Dear Storm,_

_ I hope that everything you've taught me ingrained itself deeply into my mind, because I'm going to have to use it really soon. Lucy's father has gone too far, and so has the guild he hired to bring us back home. The worst mistake Jude Heartfilia could make; tearing Lucy and my guild apart, has been made. I left a warning for him. A warning he's ignored. Not to mention that the Phantom Lord guild..._

_ They're going down._

…...

Next Chapter: Chapter 4 – For Fairy Tail

…...

I'm sorry that it's been a couple of days since I last put up a chapter. I've caught a nasty cold, and I was just too sleepy from medicine to really write much. But I'm almost over it now.

Thanks for reading, and to those of you who have reviewed, or are going to. I hope you enjoy the next chapter to come!

Thanks,

Bugg18


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – For Fairy Tail

_Gajeel..._

Sitting in my usual spot in the Phantom Lord guild hall, I munched on some of the spare scraps of iron from the broken objects that had been crushed during the attempt invasion those fairies made; as I stared at the pictures of two fairies in particular.

_"Gajeel... I want you to get a good look at the faces of these two girls." Master Jose had said, when he first handed them to me._

_ "These the two runaways from that rich guy?" I asked him, as I took the pictures from his hands._

_ "Yes... The young lady with the blonde hair is his daughter, Lucy Heartfilia. The second one is of the ward he took on the care of seven years ago, Icelynn Lace. They both ran away a year ago, and now Mr. Heartfilia wants his two girls to come back home." He explained, as I looked through them._

_ The blonde looked okay. Clear skin, huge boobs... However, it was the second girl that had me stumped._

_ "What the hell?" I muttered out as I looked at the Icelynn chick's picture._

_ "Have you seen them somewhere Gajeel?" Master Jose asked, a scary angry look on his face._

_ "Blondie... No... But I did fight the Ice Fairy the other night. Had I known she was one of these two, I would have hauled her pretty ass here. Instead, I left her as a gift for the fairies to strike out at us." I said, as I showed him the picture of the girl I was talking about._

_ "I see... Then you are familiar with her scent already then..." He inquired, as I turned to leave._

_ "Yeah... I'll head over to where you had Blondie held to get her scent." I said, as I glanced back over my shoulder at the guild master. Turning to leave once again, I was stopped by Master Jose._

_ "Oh, and Gajeel. Do bring them back alive. But if you must have some fun, play with Miss. Icelynn. The client said it would be fine, just to keep Miss. Lucy from being harmed more than needs be to capture her." He warned._

_ "Got it..."_

Taking one last good look at their faces, I wadded the pictures up as I chewed on my last piece of iron. Tossing it in the roaring fire as I passed, I felt a smirk grace my face as I felt the guild hall begin to move. Soon as Magnolia was in sight, it would finally be time to hunt...

…...

Storm,

For once, I'm not sure what to say exactly... It's a relief that the guild finally knows my secret. I just wish that it could have been one that was told under better circumstances. Then again, I guess it was meant to come into the light as it did. I have to admit though, it should have come into the light much sooner than it had. The best thing we can do now is go with what we have, and prepare for the next stage in the war our guild is now waging against the Phantom Lord guild.

At the moment, I'm trying to figure out a way to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again once this is all over with. Right now, it looks like that will only be accomplished through going home to pay Jude a visit.

And about the next stage in the war... I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen, but I have yet to grasp what it is. I would say that I hope that this feeling is wrong; but I know better. It's not gonna happen that way, and I know it.

Not to mention that our guild master isn't in good shape at the moment. During the raid Fairy Tail went on while I was still out of it from the attack Gajeel had on me, and three others; Master Makarov had all of his magic powers drained. It was so bad for him, that some of the guild members had to take him to see an old friend of his. Her name is Porlyusica, and she lives in a secluded forest for no other reason than that she hates man kind. She sounds strange and all, but who cares, so long as she can help our guild master.

I just hope this ends quickly...

Wish us luck,

Icelynn.

…...

_Icelynn..._

As each shard of glass was pulled from my hand, I felt myself wincing. Normally, I would be smart enough to not punch glass, but that blonde headed, lightning freak had pissed me off that badly.

How could he not? Not only was he insulting his _injured_ grandfather, but he was also refusing to help his own guild mates unless me or Lucy agreed to be his woman! Because of this, I can see why Master hasn't retired yet, and passed the guild down to his grandson. It was because he was a selfish, arrogant prick.

The only thing stopping me from swearing to punch the shit out of him the next time he's at the guild is the fact that he's an S class wizard, and would zap me before I could get within a few feet of him. Not to mention that my ice abilities will be next to useless against him. Ice was frozen water after all...

"Icelynn, I know you're still upset over what Laxus said, but you need to relax and let me get this last shard out." Mira scolded gently, as I unclenched my hands.

Taking the last shard out, she then cleaned the small wounds, and bandaged my hand. Thanking her, I walked back over to where Lucy was sitting with Natsu, Gray, and Happy.

"You okay now, Icelynn?" Gray asked as I sat down.

"Nothing I haven't dealt with before, so yeah." I answered, as Happy sat down in front of me.

"Don't feel bad about Laxus. He's a meanie to everyone. Unless you're a part of his Thunder Legion, but they're all meanies too. Not to mention that Freed is too serious all the time, and Bixlow has a creepy obsession with souls and toys." He said, explaining how Laxus' groupies were. "Not to mention that Evergreen is an attention hog."

"You just better hope she doesn't hear you say that Happy. Or she'll turn you to stone." Gray teased, as he looked down at the little blue cat.

"Yeah, you're right." the little guy said, as he started peeping at the corners of the basement.

"Thanks Happy, but really, I'm fine. He just pissed me off that bad is all. I can see why Natsu wanted to punch the living daylights out of him now." I said, as I patted Happy on the top of his head. (I'm sorry Laxus fans if you're reading this. I love to see both him and Gajeel; but ya got to admit, in this part of the story he really was a jackass. So was Gajeel, but it didn't take a lot for him to become alright.)

Pulling my hand away, I along with the entire guild, felt the ground start to shake. At once, my bad feeling resurfaced, and I had the strange sense of being hunted run down my spine.

Pushing the feeling from my mind, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Happy, and I all followed the guild members outside to see what was going on. When we saw what it was, it took all we had to not panic.

Right off of the shore was a walking guild hall. A walking guild hall that bore the guild mark of the Phantom Lord.

_So they've finally come to get us..._ I thought bitterly as I pushed Lucy back into the shadow of the entry way to the guild hall. If they managed to capture me, then Lucy would have to make sure she got away from here. On my own, I could escape easily from wherever they put me.

But if they get their hands on Lucy, then I'll have no choice but to go with them to keep her from harm... _I'll just have to make sure they don't see her..._

"I never anticipated this! Why would they go to such extremes to attack us!?" Erza said, as she stared wide eyed at the moving guild hall as it moved closer and closer to us.

After it took a few more steps towards us, it then sat itself down as one of the guild hall's walls lowered to reveal a huge cannon. Stretching it out, the cannon then started gathering magical energy to blast us.

"_RUN! EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"_ Erza shouted at us, before requipping into her strongest defense armor, and rushing to stand between the cannon and the guild hall.

"Erza! Wait! What are you doing!?" Kana shouted at her, as she tried to call Erza back.

"Protecting the guild hall! Just get everyone back!" She shouted back, as she took her stand.

Looking at all of the people in front of me, and back at the guild hall; I then looked up at the cannon and Erza. She didn't have enough magical energy alone to take the blast and live. Hell, her entire body would be gone...

Lucky for her and everyone here, I too knew and used requip magic myself. It was something I was forced to learn on my own when Lucy's father banned me from having the weapons I had that went with my dragon slayer magic. I managed to learn how to summon each of them right before he found where I had hidden the ones Storm had given me.

Unlike Erza though, I don't do the whole armor thing. Seeing as I have my dragon slayer form. I do have a fighting outfit for it though, so I'll have clothes that can handle the extremes my magic puts on them.

I didn't even have time to consider if I wanted to help or not, because a second after Erza put her shield up, and cast the defense spell, the cannon fired. Letting my instincts go, I found myself rushing forward.

I had to hurry, for the shield circle wasn't big enough. I managed to get to Erza, and put my hands around her to get to her shield, and put a blast of my magic into it to make the circle just big enough to stop the blast.

When it hit, it hurt like hell; and from the looks of it, Erza was in no better shape. In fact, I think she didn't take it as I did. Being a dragon slayer, I could take a beating that could kill someone like Erza. But even I had my limits.

If I had taken the blast alone, I wouldn't even be among the living anymore.

The blast itself blew Erza and I back into the rest of the guild members. Erza's armor broke and scattered, as she got major burns on just her face, hands, and forearms; along with the damage from the impact.

I had similar injuries, only my burns spread over more skin, and the impact had sliced parts of my body open. The wound to my side was particularly not good. It wasn't life threateningly deep, but it was bleeding a lot.

I was surprised that I was still even conscious. Already, Erza's brain had put her into sleep mode to assess the damage done to her body.

"I don't believe this... they actually managed to stop it..." I heard Macow, Romeo's dad say, as he stared at Erza and I in disbelief.

"Yeah, but look at them... Erza's out, and Icelynn isn't far behind." Kana said, as she watched us with worried eyes.

Pressing a hand to my bloody side, I slowly stood to my feet. I stumbled a bit, but I managed to catch myself. Taking off my black, sleeveless jacket, I used my teeth to tear it into strips. Tying it off around the gash in my side, I then turned and used the rest of it to bind the worst of Erza's wounds for now.

"Icelynn... You shouldn't push yourself! You're hurt too..." Kana said, as she got to where Erza and I had landed. Along with Natsu and Gray. Lucy was looking in my direction, terrified; yet forcing herself to stay put.

"I'm fine." I said, as I pushed her hands away from me, and I turned to Erza. "Besides, Erza's worse off than I am."

As Kana and I were about to get Erza into the guild, we heard a dinging noise, as a sick voice I wish I could forget spoke to us.

"Makarov has fallen. Now Erza can no longer stand; not to mention that the one who helped her is about to drop as well... Any chance of victory has slipped through your fingers. Surrender Lucy Heartfilia and Icelynn Lace immediately... You have no choice." It said.

I couldn't help but bare my teeth at the guild hall it was coming from. That had to be the guild master. Just as I was about to shout for him to fuck off, a roar of anger and refusal came from the guild around me.

"_THAT NOT GONNA HAPPEN!"_

_ "NO GUILD WOULD HAND ONE OF THEIR OWN TO A MONSTER LIKE YOU!"_

_ "YOU HEAR THAT! LUCY AND ICELYNN ARE STAYING PUT!"_

_"YEAH!"_

_ "I WON'T ASK AGAIN!" _The Phantom Lord guild master warned, as Kana and I continued to get Erza into the guild, only to have Erza jerk awake.

"_WE WOULD NEVER BETRAY THEM LIKE THAT! YOU'D HAVE TO KILL US FIRST!"_ She shouted, before falling back under again, allowing us to get her inside.

"_YOU CAN STOP ASKING NOW, BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANOTHER ANSWER! WE'RE TAKING EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU JERKS DOWN!_" I heard Natsu shout, as the doors behind us closed.

The second we had Erza laying down on top of a table, Lucy latched herself on to me, only to let go a second later due to the hiss of pain that had escaped from me.

"I'm sorry..." Lucy muttered, as tears silently kept spilling down her face.

"It's okay Luce... We didn't leave to be forced back home like this... Jude knew I would fight should he try something like this..." I said, as Lucy looked up at me in confusion.

"He knew?" She asked.

"I left a warning note, telling him there would be hell to pay if he came after us. It looks like a year had to fly by without us showing any sign of returning to figure out that we meant it... I never told you this Lucy, but I know why he wants us to come back home so badly..." I said, as I hung my head in shame, as even Kana, and the newly present Mirajane looked at me in as much shock as Lucy showed.

"What?... You know why?" Lucy asked...

"Yes... Right before we left, I overheard him talking to the heads of his two most wealthiest colleagues. They were talking about aligning their industries. Then Jude agreed to have you marry the eldest son of one, and me the middle son of the other to seal the deal... Your father was going to announce it the next night during the spring ball he made us attend every year to show us off." I said, as I looked back up at Lucy's questioning gaze.

"So that's why you said that if we wanted to get out, we'd have to go then..." Lucy pieced together, as she too remembered that night.

Before I could give a reply, we heard the Phantom Lord guild master speak again.

"_IF IT'S DEATH IS WHAT YOU WANT, I'LL GIVE YOU A SECOND HELPING OF THE JUPITER CANNON! YOU HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO PONDER THE FOLLEY OF YOUR ACTIONS!_" He shouted.

"_DAMN IT!_ I can't take that blast on my own, and Erza's out for this round!" I snarled in aggravation, as my side gave a painful throb that nearly had me on my knees. I would have been had Mira not stepped forward, and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Double damn! Scratch that, I don't even think I could take half of that blast again..." I ground out through clenched teeth. "Erza was lucky I stepped in. If I hadn't, we'd all be blown to bits right now..."

"We know Icelynn. The power behind that blast was intense..." Mira agreed.

Then we heard screams of shock, and cursing coming from outside. Kana went over and cracked the door open to see what was going on now. Peering outside, we could see hundreds of phantom soldiers flying towards our guild mates.

"Shit!" Kana swore, as she ran out of the door to go and help where she could.

"_THERE'S ONLY TWO WAYS THIS CAN PLAY OUT FAIRY TAIL! EITHER YOU'RE DEVOURED BY MY PHANTOMS, OR YOU CAN BE TORN APART BY JUPITER!" Phantom master shouted, before going silent._

"Aw, Damn!" I shouted in frustration, as I watched Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Elfman run towards the guild hall.

I started to move to go help them, but I had Mira pulling me back.

"Wait Icelynn, I need you and Lucy to come with me." she said, as she grabbed Lucy's hand, and started to drag us off to the front of the guild hall.

"We don't have time Mira..." I protested, as I tried to pull my hand back. However, I found that I couldn't. Mira had a really strong hold on my wrist, and I didn't feel like fighting over it, so I went along with it.

When we got around to the front, Mira pulled Lucy and I to a stop.

"We have a hideout. I want you both to stay there until this is all over." she said, as she turned to face us.

"Hell no!" I snarled at her, yanking my hand back from her. If that bastard was going to fire that canon again, I'm not leaving.

"Yeah, Mira, we can't leave." Lucy agreed, wanting to stay too.

Taking a deep breath, Mira closed her eyes before slowly releasing it.

"I hope you two can forgive me... But I'm doing this both your sakes, and the pride and honor of Fairy Tail..." Mira whispered, before I found her hand in my face, as it turned a gold color. "I'm sorry, but you'll both have to do as I say."

Instantly, I could feel consciousness slipping away from me. A sideways glance at Lucy told me the same thing.

"Ridus, please take them to the hideout. Just make a picture copy of Icelynn before you go." Mira asked Fairy Tail's resident picto magic wizard.

This was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

…...

_Gajeel..._

By the time that I picked up that the blonde chick, and the Ice Fairy's scents were isolated from their guilds, they had already left the area.

Going around the front of their guild hall, I thought I had spotted them at first. Until the wind caught her scent, and blew it up to me. It was the right faces, but wrong scents...

The blonde imposter had to have been one of the take over mages in the guild. While the Ice Fairy imposter smelled like picto magic.

Waiting until they were out of sight, I then jumped down to the street, and started sniffing around. Not even a minute passed before I caught a whiff that intoxicating fresh fallen snow scent...

"Found you Ice Fairy..."

…...

Next Chapter: Chapter 5 – Sisters... Blood or No Blood


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Sisters... Blood or No Blood

_Lucy..._

The rocking of whatever I was in was what made me come to. Opening my eyes, I could see that we were in a moving carriage. Sitting straight up, I looked around, fearing that we had been captured.

Thankfully though, that wasn't the case. For one, I wasn't tied up. Two, Icelynn was beside me, and she wasn't tied up either. Which would be a dumb idea on Phantom Lord's part. And three, Ridus was up front, driving us somewhere. More than likely the hide out Mirajane had told us about.

_Speaking of which, I see that she knocked both me and Icelynn out to get us to comply... Boy is Icelynn going to be happy when she wakes up..._ I thought sarcastically to myself, as I sat up.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" Ridus asked me, as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Yeah... What did Mira do to me?" I asked him, as I moved closer to the front of the carriage.

"Please stay in the back Lucy... Mirajane used her take over magic on you to take on your appearance to buy more time. She also used it on Icelynn, but had me create a picto image copy of her. For the simple reason that Mirajane can only do one full body take over at a time." Ridus explained, as he pulled the carriage to a stop in front of what looked like a barn. "Please stay in the carriage until we are safely shut up in the barn." He asked, as he hopped off the cart to open the doors.

Pulling the carriage inside, he then shut the doors.

Ridus then pulled out his painting pallet, and painted a cot on his stomach. Once it was rolled out on the ground, Ridus opened the back of the carriage.

"Please bring Icelynn to the cot I made. She must rest her wounds." Ridus said, as he helped me to move my sister's heavy butt. God, if Happy ever says I'm too heavy again, I'll tell him to try and pick Icelynn up!

Once we had Icelynn settled down, Ridus handed me some bandages and burn ointment, and created a privacy screen so that I could properly dress Icelynn's wounds.

Once the wound to her side was cleaned out and bandaged, and her burns taken care of, I sat on a crate nearby as she slept.

Every now and again, Icelynn's eyebrows would furrow, as if she were in pain, or having a nightmare. For all I knew, it was both...

…...

_Icelynn..._

_"Not this dream again..." I whispered, as I found myself standing at the base of the snow covered mountains I had lived in with Storm. It was the place Storm had dropped me off, and left seven years ago, back when I was thirteen years old..._

_ Knowing how this dream goes, I walked forward._

_ I made it about five feet before I tripped over something. Looking down at my feet, I find the thirteen year old Icelynn that had been left behind. She was wearing a simple, sleeveless white dress, with the blue necklace I always carry in her hand._

_ It was a piece of one of Storm's dragon scales. He had pulled one off, and broke it into small pieces just for me. He had claimed it was for my thirteenth birthday, but now I know that it was because he was going to leave me soon._

_ Looking back up at the horizon, I spotted something white flying off into the deepest part of the mountains. Deep down, I knew it was Storm flying away from me._

_ As my hurt and betrayal rose to the surface, I found myself chasing after him. This dream would always turn out like this. I would see Storm flying away, and I would go after him. Trying to catch up to him, only for him to stay out of my reach. I knew that once he flew out of sight, that I would wake up._

_ Not this time..._

_ This time, I felt someone grab my hand, and pull me backwards. Looking over my shoulder, I no longer saw the thirteen year old Icelynn, but red eyes right before mine._

_ I was face to face with Gajeel, who wore a cruel, soft bad boy smirk._

_ "Found you, Ice Fairy..." He said before placing his hands on both sides of my face, and violently twisting my head to the side, breaking my neck..._

_ "_ICELYNN!_"_

"Icelynn..." Lucy was saying, as she gently shook me from my nightmare.

Snapping my eyes open, I found myself staring face to face with Lucy instead of Gajeel, as I panted for the breath that had left me in fright. But before I could say anything, I caught the smell of iron...

"He's here..." I said, as I jumped to my feet, and pushed Lucy behind a crate at the same second that the far wall came crashing into the barn.

…...

_Gajeel..._

It didn't take me long to follow the trail their scents left behind. Soon, I found myself standing on top of a roof, looking over at a barn across the street. It looked like a hideout of some sort. Smart move of the fairies to get the two girls away from the guild hall. Too bad they weren't smarter.

If they had been, then they would have known to move the girls the second they found out that's who we were after. And then did something to erase their scents. I mean, come on, they knew I was the dragon slayer for our guild. If anything, they should have sent someone like Salamander, or that Mystogen, or Laxus guy to look after them...

_That _would have been the smart thing to do.

Fortunately for me, with them being this dumb. It works in my favor, and it keeps my ass from being fried by the guild master later for failing.

Just as I was about to jump from the roof I was on, I spotted a couple of people who were also from my guild. The mirror magic girl, and the other guy. I never learned what their names were. Never needed to.

Either way, it didn't matter, seeing as the sight of them gave me an idea for a great plan. Besides, it would give me extra time should something happen to slow me down when I haul the two back to the boss...

Going over to my two guild mates, I quickly told them my plan. Once they understood what I wanted them to do, I slipped up to the barn, and jumped up to the second story window. Hanging on to the seal, I quietly opened the window, and silently crept inside of it. Thankfully, the second floor only consisted of overhanging wooden beams.

Hanging on to the open window, I looked down below to see where my prey was located. The blonde was sitting next to what looked like a bed roll, while the Ice Fairy was on it asleep. You could visibly see bandages on parts of both her arms, her legs, and her waist.

_Damn... She looks like she could have taken a hit from the bosses Jupiter cannon!_ I thought while I examined her. _Then again, if she had been hit by that monster, she'd be dead..._ I thought again with a snort. There was no way... (_If only Gajeel knew, huh..._) Either way, it didn't matter. The longer she was unconscious, the better because it would make getting her to the boss easier.

Across the barn from the two girls, sat a big, round, fat guy. I could pick up a hint of picto magic in his scent. Just like the fake Ice Fairy I spotted earlier. Making him to be the one who whipped it up at the last moment.

Thankfully, they weren't anywhere near where I was, or where the other two from my guild were going to hit. Wouldn't be good to have a brick accidentally kill one of the two female fairies we need to acquire for the guild's rick client, now would we...

Just as I was about to stick my arm out of the window to signal the two below it, I paused as the Ice Fairy began twitching in her sleep. Like she was having a nightmare or something. And she was muttering something, but it was so quiet that I almost missed it.

"Storm... Come back..." She would say.

_Could that be the name of her dragon? From the sounds of it, it's like her dragon may have left her behind as well... Like mine did... Could it all be connected somehow?_ I found myself wondering, before I shook the thoughts from my mind. I wanted answers, but I could easily get them once I get her back to the guild.

Watching them closely, I stuck my hand out of the window and signaled the two below it, as I watched the Ice Fairy open up her dark blue eyes, as her nose twitched. I couldn't help the smirk that grew across my face as she realized that they weren't out of the woods yet.

"He's here..." she muttered, as she jumped to her feet to hide the blonde behind a crate as the wall below me was blown in wards.

"Hiding her won't do any good Ice Fairy..." I said in a low voice that only the Ice Dragon slayer could hear me, as she looked up at me in shock that I had slipped up on her while she was out cold.

As the two I had enlisted the help of walked in through the hole in the wall they created, I jumped down to the bottom most beam right behind my two people, and used my iron dragon abilities to stick myself on the beam's underside to smirk down at my two targets.

…...

_Icelynn..._

"You alright, Ridus?" I asked the picto mage, as he pulled his paint brush and pallet close to him, while Lucy came out of her useless hiding spot to stand next to me.

"Oui... (Sorry if it's wrong, just went with the spelling I could find...)" He said, as he turned to look at the enemies before us. I could tell that he was a little scrapped by the flying rubble, but was fine overall.

"Aren't you the stubborn one..." said a dark skinned guy with purple sunglasses, as he and a dark skinned girl walked through the opening below where Gajeel was now hanging upside down, smirking at us.

"It's over tubby... Might as well give up, and hand over the two brats." Said the girl, who wore a purple bandanna over her head.

"If you think I'm going to let my sister or myself handed over, then you've got another thing coming..." I growled back at them, making the guy and the girl nervous.

"No Icelynn, you and Lucy must go!" Ridus said, as he began to load his paint brush with paint from his pallet.

"And leave you to face them alone? Not a chance in hell Ridus!" I nearly shouted back at him.

"Yeah, even I want to stay and fight." Lucy agreed, much to my dislike. However, before I could protest, and yell at her to get out of here; Ridus spared us a pleading glance, and spoke again.

"You're still too injured from taking that blast Icelynn. You're holding your side, so don't deny it. If you and Lucy are to make it out of here, you'll need your sister's help." He insisted as we heard chuckling coming from Gajeel.

"Oh stop it, I'm gonna cry..." Gajeel said in a mocking tone.

"Why you..." I growled out, only for Ridus to hold his paint brush up in front of me to silence me.

"Go." He said, as he summoned his magical energy for his spell.

"Sorry, Ridus..." Lucy said, as she grabbed my hand then. "Come on, Icelynn." She said, pulling me along behind her.

"Picto magic... Roar of Silver!" Ridus shouted, as he summoned the three Vulcans he had painted on his stomach.

I don't know what happened after that because I had to concentrate on where Lucy was taking me, so that I didn't trip over my own two feet. Already, my vision was starting to blur out again. Not to mention that I could feel the blood soaking through the bandages wrapped around my side.

Unfortunately, Lucy and I didn't make it very far before we both were kicked back by Gajeel, who landed a few feet in front of us.

"What... ya gonna run away and let fatty take the fall... That's not nice..." He smirked down at us, as I struggled to get back on my feet.

Lucy had lost her keys when she was kidnapped the first time by Phantom Lord, and we've yet to find them. She didn't even have her whip, and I was too hurt and low on magic to really put up a fight.

Looking back behind me, I spotted Ridus being blown all over the place, before falling to the ground in a daze.

If we do get out of here, then it's gonna be one hell of a bloody fight and a big miracle.

"You bastard..." I snarled out at Gajeel, as I finally stood up.

"I've never seen such a sad excuse for a guild. What? Will they let anyone join?" he mocked, sneering at both Lucy and I like we were spoiled brats or something.

"Take that back!" Lucy demanded from beside me, as she also rose to her feet.

"You gonna make me?" Gajeel said, daring either one of us to try it.

Before another retort could be thrown around, Lucy and I gasped as Ridus was caught up in a sound wave explosion from the guy in the purple sunglasses.

"Ridus!" Lucy shouted, trying to see if he was okay, only for her to be met with silence as Ridus could only black out.

"What a cream puff…" Gajeel said, as he too, glanced over. "You actually like hanging out with guys like that, little princess? You too, Ice Fairy." He teased, as he turned his gaze back to us.

"That's it!" I shouted before I tore my arm away from Lucy, who had grabbed it to attempt to keep me away from this sick bastard. Throwing an ice punch at his head, I growled in frustration when I missed due to the dizziness that accompanied the loss of blood from my wound.

"Someone's a little temperamental." Gajeel said, before he kicked me in the wounded side, causing blood to bleed through my bandages, and my light blue tank top. There was even enough blood to have bleed through my black vest, had it not been destroyed by that blasted Jupiter earlier.

The force of his kick caused me to cough up blood, as I fell to my knees from the sudden intense pain. Gritting my teeth, I couldn't help but glare up at the man who was more than likely sent to kidnap us both. Why was he doing this?

As he smirked back down at me, I felt my anger trying to take over my mind, as the dragon blood in my veins tried to take over my body. If things continued, then I'd be fighting out of instinct.

Something that's happened before, and didn't end will. Not to mention that the world was painted in blood once it was all over.

_No! I can't let that happen! Not with Lucy and Ridus around. It would kill them…_ I thought to myself as I tried to fight it back.

"Well, it's been fun, but it's time to get going." Gajeel said, before he sent a powerful kick to my face, effectively knocking me out for a while.

…

_Gajeel…_

Once both the spoiled princess and the Ice Fairy were out of it for a while, I tossed blondie over my shoulder, and tucked the Ice Fairy under my arm. Making sure I had a good hold on both of them, I jumped up through one of the holes in the roof the blast earlier had caused.

Turning to head back in the direction of the guild hall, I noticed something that wasn't quite right. It was deathly quiet, and the giant didn't appear to be moving.

"Hey, why'd the giant stop?" I found myself asking out loud. "What's going on now?" I grumbled in irritation. It was probably the fairies doing once again. They must have figured out that if they beat the element four, they could stop the giant.

_Damn. There proving to be smarter than what I thought…_

I was then pulled from my thoughts when I sensed a powerful attack heading my way really fast. Taking a huge step to the right, I dodged it easily. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted a red headed guy in green coat. I believe the fairies know him as Loke or something.

"Hell of a way to say hello." I said, as I dropped the two girls I carried to get them out of the way. The boss said that it didn't matter if the Ice Fairy was roughed up a little, but she was to be kept alive, while Blondie is to be kept as unharmed as possible. Besides, hanging on to them would only get in my way.

"What do you think you're doing with Lucy and Icelynn?" Loke demanded, as he glared over at me from where he stood. "If you don't let them go right now, you'll be sorry… That is, if you live to see tomorrow of course." He said, ending his demand in a threat that only caused me to smirk wider at him. I did love a challenge.

"Oh really… I do like good challenges… So let's dance Fairy!" I shouted, as I shot my iron club at him, to which he dodged. Jumping high up into the air, he then starts throwing magic punches at me. As I blocked each one, I was more and more convinced that this guy wasn't like any ordinary wizard. This guy was different somehow, yet I couldn't place it. When his close combat attacks ceased for a moment so he could think of what his next move would be, I took the opportunity to find out what I could about him.

"So who are you? And why don't you smell normal?" I asked, watching his reactions.

"I don't know what you mean. I've never gotten any complaints from the ladies." He said in a smug tone, as I could only roll my eyes at. Thankfully, I only did this mentally, or I would have missed how this guy's physical form wavered into nothing before solidifying once more. Not to mention the look of pain that cross the fairies face.

Spotting this as a perfect opportunity to get this guy out of my way, I hit him with a good solid punch using my dragon slayer magic to give me an extra amount of strength, and knocked him right into the barn below.

The fairy was dazed when he looked up from the floor.

"I'm hauling these two back to the boss. You two deal with Lover Boy." I said, once I could see that the love sick idiot wouldn't be a problem anymore. Once the two confirmed my orders, I picked the two girls back up, and headed for the guild hall.

_The Phantom Lord Guild Hall Giant…_

Lucky for me, there weren't any more fairies to get in my way to getting back to the boss. When I reached his throne room, I spotted him glaring daggers of death at the scene before him through vision lacrimas.

"I don't believe this… my team of strongest wizards, the Element Four was wiped out by that pathetic Fairy Tail scum!" he growled in anger, as I silently walked up to the place he currently stood.

"Guess that makes them even worse than scum, huh?" I said, making my presence known, and startling Master Jose into whirling around to face me.

"Oh, Gajeel… I see you've come bearing gifts. How were you ever able to track them?" Master Jose said, as he stepped down off of the small stage he was on.

"Yeah, I picked you a little something up. And you really shouldn't underestimate the nose of a dragon slayer." I said, as I dumped the blonde over my shoulder to the floor.

"They are still alive, right? Without pulses, they are useless to us." The boss asked, as I was about to dump the Ice Fairy on top of the blondie.

"Well… I was pretty rough with them…" I said, in thought. "Let's see!" I shouted, as I kicked Blondie in the side and across the room, before throwing the Ice Fairy on top of her.

Blondie started coughing right away, as the Ice Fairy grunted in pain, and pressed both of her hands to her bloodied side. From where I was, I could smell the fresh blood.

"Yep. They're still alive and kicking!" I said with an evil smirk.

"Excellently done Gajeel!" Master Jose praised. "I knew I could count on you." He said, as a wicked grin stretched across his face.

…

_Icelynn…_

Slowly coming to, I could hear voices. One belonged to Gajeel, and the other, I didn't know. I would have looked around, but I was still too out of it to open my eyes. At least, until I heard a familiar ding dong sound. Like the one we heard when Phantom Lord's guild master spoke to the entire Fairy Tail guild before trying to blast us into oblivion.

Gajeel was standing a few feet from where Lucy and I lay. Glancing over at Lucy, I let out a relieved breath when I didn't see any visible injuries. My attention however, was drawn back to the two men when they looked over at me. Apparently, they had heard my sigh of relief.

"Looks like you've woken up, Miss. Lace. I would give you the same offer as I did Miss. Heartfilia, however, I was given strict instruction to keep you as I would a prisoner… Gajeel…" the one who sat on what looked like a throne said. He had dark red hair, and purple lipstick. From the way he looked and spoke, this guy had to be Jose.

Nodding his head, Gajeel set to work on chaining me to the wall behind me. Before I could so much as lift a finger to fight him off, I had chains around my waist, and my wrists behind my back, connected to the one on my waist. Not to mention that my ankles were chained together as well.

"Good to see that you saved your breath. Cause I would have turned you down flat the same damn way!" I snapped back at him, as I watched his face twist into an unpleased frown in satisfaction.

"My, my… Now I can see why Miss. Heartfilia allowed me to treat you as a prisoner right off the bat. You're just as much as a trouble maker as the rest of those Fairy Tail flies… He believes that you are also the one responsible for Miss. Heartfilia's rebellious behavior as well." Jose said, as he glared down at me. "I'll never understand how someone could be raised to be a lady, and yet act the complete opposite…" he muttered under his breath. Thinking that only Gajeel could hear him.

"It happens when parents force their kids to try and be something they are not, nor ever want to be." I said, as my smirk grew at Jose's shocked look.

"How did you hear that?" He demanded, as he jumped to his feet in rage.

"I believe Gajeel told you earlier to never underestimate a dragon slayers nose. The same goes for the hearing of a dragon slayer as well." I said, in a bitter sweet, mocking tone.

"WHAT!?... Gajeel, did you know this?" Jose then demanded, as he whirled around on Gajeel.

"You mean that you didn't?" He asked back, a shocked look on his face.

"Damn that Heartfilia! We could have charged him more up front if I had known this beforehand!" Jose shouted to the walls in anger.

"Damn, I know how that feels…" I muttered out loud, as Gajeel _almost_ looked at me in sympathy. Jose on the other hand, looked ready to drain the life right out of me. A look I'm accustomed to, being raised by a dragon and all… "Either way it doesn't matter now does it… Jude Heartfilia didn't know I was a dragon slayer. That bastard didn't notice a lot of things about either of us…" I snarled in aggravation, as I pulled at the iron chains holding me down.

Damn things didn't even budge.

"Oh, and did you know the speaking lacrimas are still active?" I asked them nonchalantly, as Jose's eyes bugged. Muttering about finishing this conversation later, he turned to the lacrima.

"ATTENTION YOU PATHETIC FAIRY TAIL WORMS, BECAUSE I'M ONLY GOING TO SAY THIS ONCE!" Jose paused, as Gajeel suddenly walked over, and lifted Lucy off the ground by her hair causing her to scream out in pain. Realizing that he was doing it so that the guild would know that we've been captured, I clamped my mouth shut. I knew that the guild would know Lucy would be alright, and would form a plan; but if they know we are both caught, then they'll rush in without thinking, and I can't let that happen.

Unfortunately, I didn't get that choice, as Gajeel lightly kicked me in my wounded side. Not enough to cause more damage, but enough to make me shout in sudden pain. Now that our voices had been clearly heard, Jose continued.

"WE HAVE CAPTURED YOUR PRECIOUS LUCY HEARTFILIA, AND ICELYNN LACE. WHICH MEANS THAT OUR FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS NOW OUT OF THE WAY, AND THAT LEAVES US WITH JUST ONE MORE THING…

MY FAVORITE PART, WIPING YOU MISERABLE BRATS RIGHT OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!" Jose said, as I felt a snarl leave my throat.

This bastard had taken things too far already, and now, he just dug his grave even deeper than before. If the guild can get the master back on his feet, then Jose would be a goner.

After the ding dong went off again, Jose rose from where he sat, and walked over to where I was, before kicking me in the jaw, splitting my lip in the process.

"That was just a taste of the punishment you'll be receiving for your insolent words against me Miss. Lace." He said, before walking towards the door. "I'm off to get rid of the remaining pests who are still in my guild hall. Watch them Gajeel." Jose ordered before he disappeared from sight.

"Got it." Gajeel said, as he turned to Lucy and I. He unchained my feet, and grabbed my arm after tossing Lucy over his shoulder. Making sure I wasn't about to run off, he then took us to another room who had the other two who had attacked earlier, as well as a few others.

When we got to the room, Gajeel threw me against the wall before dropping Lucy towards his feet, and then kicked her into the wall beside me. Crying out in pain, Lucy then fell in a heap to the floor.

"Lucy!" I shouted in worry, as I knelt down beside her.

"You've gotta sing better than that." Gajeel said, a sadistic, excited look on his face; a look that screamed excitement for a fight he knows will happen somehow. "Too bad. You're hearts just not in it." He teased then, when Lucy didn't make any other noise.

"You bastard! Just leave Lucy alone! She's been through enough." I said, as I glared daggers at Gajeel.

"They both look pretty beat up Gajeel. Haven't they had enough? Besides, the master said that he didn't want them getting hurt." Another phantom guild member said, as he stood with a small group of people crowded off to the side.

"But what else am I supposed to do!?" Gajeel snapped in annoyance at the guy. "I can't believe he's even doing this. He leaves me to look after the Blondie, and the Ice Fairy while he goes off to have all the fun." Gajeel said, as he turned his fist into an iron club. "I'm just playing with a couple of new toys."

At this, I felt my eyes turn light blue, as Lucy struggles to breathe. The kick he just landed on her would definitely leave a bad bruise; and its possible Lucy has some broken ribs now. As Gajeel walked closer, I tried to think of anything that I could do. Being chained to a wall, there was only one thing I could do.

Something I've done for my little sister for the last few years now.

"You're master ordered that Lucy not be harmed. However, I'm not so lucky." I said, making Gajeel pause, and everyone else gap at me. "In fact, your client said it was fine if I were to be hurt upon retrieval… Hell, I doubt he'd mind if you out right _killed_ me." I continued, as I smirked up at Gajeel, matching his sadistic smirk with my own. "So go ahead, Black Steel Gajeel… Go on and do your worst."

"I'm not doing this for fun… You're just bait to lure Salamander here." Gajeel said in a low voice only I could hear, just as I heard a familiar roar.

"Natsu…" I heard Lucy say from beside me, as I looked over at her in shock. Now way could have Lucy heard it. I barely picked it up and I have acute hearing!

"Even so, wouldn't the master be angry if-"I heard the same guild member say, only to be shut up by an iron club to the face by Gajeel.

_He'd strike his own guild mates like that? Without mercy or remorse? I get that Natsu and Gray fight a lot, but never like that… This guild… He's only in it to a means to an end. And he's doing everything he's doing right now and before just to face Natsu? _I thought to myself, as I studied his red eyes. It was really hard to see, and in blinking you'd just miss it; but you could easily see that Gajeel wasn't happy with what he's been doing here in this guild. The sensation was so slight, that I bet he's in denial…

"Shut up already… I don't care what the master said, nor the fact that Blondie and Ice Fairy over there are girls. When they joined Fairy Tail, they knew what they were getting into, and still chose to join. So it's their own stupidity." Gajeel said, as he turned to look back at us.

"I kind of feel sorry for them. More so for the Ice Fairy than for the Blondie. She was raised as an outsider than a family member. Then again, she's not blood related." He continued, as I felt anger spring to life in my chest.

"But still… I feel for them both because their guild mates didn't want them back until they found out that their old man's loaded." Gajeel said, only to pause a moment later, when a chuckle came out of Lucy, who was now on her feet as well.

"Jeez you're dumb." Lucy said, as she grinned up at Gajeel. "And for the record, blood ties don't matter to me. Icelynn is a sister to me, and that's it." She said, as she met Gajeel's gaze head on. "And it's also sad that I feel _sorry for you_… And Phantom Lord itself. Once Fairy Tail gets here, you'll be as scared as you _think_ I am. Though to tell the truth, none of you scare me at all." She said, before Gajeel threw an iron club at her.

Seeing this, I felt my dragon slayer blood begin to boil, as I froze the chains binding me, and shattered them. Once they were gone, I pushed Lucy out of the way, and took the blow for her.

"Icelynn!" Lucy shouted.

"What the hell…" Gajeel muttered in surprise. He didn't think I still had any fight left in me.

"Icelynn… You're eyes… And you're…" Lucy stuttered, as I already knew what had happened. My eyes were a pale blue, and my hair had just turned a snowy white, with ice blue ends. It was strange as always, being in my dragon slayer form without turning into a wild animal. Either way, I would be fine so long as I don't try to take it to the next level. Lucy of course, knew what I was, it's just that she had never seen it before herself.

"I know Luce… Just stay back." I said, as Lucy could only blink at me for a moment.

"But Icelynn, your injured." She protested.

"We don't have time to worry about that." I said, as Gajeel shattered the ice that had frozen his iron club in place.

"You'd go to these lengths for someone with no connection to you?" Gajeel asked in shock.

"Yes… Blood… No blood… Family is family, weather by blood, or by the heart. So it's easy to see that blood or no blood, we're sisters." I said, as Gajeel was then knocked back by a powerful explosion.

And a powerful roar that nearly rivaled that of a dragon.

"GAJEEL!" Natsu roared, as he landed one of his fire dragon slayer attacks on the iron dragon slayer…

…Next Chapter – Chapter 6 – Fire Vs. Iron; The Meaning of Forgiveness

…..


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Fire vs. Iron; the Meaning of Forgiveness…

_Icelynn…_

"I knew I could smell him here…" Gajeel said, as he got back on his feet once the explosion cleared.

"It's Natsu…" Lucy whispered from where the explosion had sent her, as Natsu's form was engulfed in a mini inferno. Fueled by his rage and determination. Seeing that Natsu was here, helped me to calm down enough that my hair turned back to its normal color.

Moving to stand on my feet, I found myself falling right back down again, as pain bloomed in my side. Looking down at my wound, I could see that it had opened even farther, and I could feel the blood flow getting heavier too.

Tearing off the bottom half of my ruined blue tank top, I tied it around my wound and bandages. And to try and slow it down, I laid a thin layer of ice over that patch of skin, and cloth.

Once that was done, I turned to look at the situation going on currently before me. Lucy was between looking over at me in worry, and looking over at Natsu who stood before Gajeel with a worried, hopeful expression.

Testing my wounds mobility once more, I breathed a sigh in relief when I found that I could move for now. Walking over to where Lucy was, I watched as she stood to her feet, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You shouldn't be moving Icelynn." Lucy scolded, as she helped me to sit on the ground, before sitting next to me.

"I'm alright… For now, let's just give Natsu the support he needs for this fight. It won't be easy to beat Metal Head over there, even on your best day, let alone when you've used some of your magical energy already. And besides, I don't think those Phantom members over there would just turn a blind eye and let us go." I suggested, as Natsu and Gajeel lunged at each other, and then started throwing normal attacks and each other around.

It was also at this moment that Happy walked up to us.

"Icelynn, Lucy, are you guys alright?" the little blue cat asked gently, as he looked us over. At me in particular.

"We're good." I answered, as Lucy turned to look at him for a moment.

"Happy…" Lucy said, before she looked back over at Natsu, and her face changed into a confused expression.

"Something wrong?" Happy asked, noticing Lucy's look also, and turning to follow her gaze.

"No… It's just that I've never seen Natsu look like this." She said, a tone of worry creeping into her voice. Looking carefully at what she saw, I felt my eyes widen in shock.

Natsu…

Was…

_Beyond…_

Pissed…

"Aye, he's fired up more than ever before… I'm glad I'm not that other guy." Happy agreed, as we turned our attention to the fight before us.

"Heh… I wouldn't want to be in Gajeel's boots right now, definitely. Though it's best if we stay back. Dragons can be very destructive in battle, and so can dragon slayers; and two of them are about to duke it out right before our eyes." I warned, as Lucy and Happy both nodded their heads in agreement.

"Oh yeah, and Icelynn, why is your hair white and blue?" Happy asked.

"It's my dragon slayer form." I answered, as Happy looked at me in a shocked face before examining it.

"It looks different from Natsu's." Happy commented, as he looked me over closely. "In fact, it's a bit creeper than Erza angry!" He said after a moment before pulling back nervously as we moved back some.

"Sorry, but it's not something I can help all the time cat… And it's different for every slayer. Though, I think the dragon in my genes may be stronger than most anyway." I muttered the end to myself. Knowing that they wouldn't get it. Which was for the best. That was a part of the past that not even Lucy knew yet…

That, and it's probably best that I stay this way until the end of this fight. I wouldn't be much help, but if Natsu needed a hand, I was the only one who could help him against another of our kind…

Giving me confused looks, they both shrugged once the figured out that they weren't getting any more than that out of me.

Now that we were farther back, we watched from the sidelines as Gajeel and Natsu lunged at each other, throw a few hits, and break apart before doing it all over again. Taking a solid punch from Natsu, Gajeel landed against part of one of the walls, and it crumbled over him.

"Take that you metal freak! You might as well just give up!" Natsu sounded, as Gajeel extracted himself from the small pile of rubble. Dusting himself off, Gajeel then proceeded to crack various joints.

"No way… They were just warming up!?" I heard on of the phantoms say, as they too looked on with horror and shock.

"You sure are cocky for fairy scum." Gajeel said, as he popped his neck.

"You're the only scum here pal!" Natsu shouted back at him, bracing himself for Gajeel's next move. "As payback for what you did to Icelynn and Lucy, I'm going to use my fire power to melt you're ugly iron face!"

"Sounds like fun…" Gajeel said, barking a short laugh. "Go on and give it a shot." He said, before he and Natsu charged at each other again. They threw a few more attacks before they broke apart, and Gajeel used his magic to turn his arm into a toothed blade sword of some sort.

"That's a pretty wicked looking toy." Natsu said, once he got a good look at it.

"This is the iron dragon sword. Anything it touches is cut to shreds." Gajeel said, as the thing started spinning like a chain saw. "I thought I'd give you a close and personal demonstration." He said, as he moved to charge at Natsu.

"Careful Natsu, that thing will tear a chunk out of you if it hits you!" I shouted at him, to make sure that he understood.

Shrugging my words off, Natsu took one look at the thing and scoffed at it.

"Ooh, I'm so scared." He said, as he stood at the ready for the next attack.

"How is he doing that?" Lucy asked, as an intense worried look crossed her face. A look I probably shared. Seeing that thing moving like that on Gajeel's arm; who wouldn't.

"It's his dragon slayer magic for his element that allows him to do that. It's like my ice claws, they're a part of my body; like that sword is a part of his." I explained, as Gajeel let out a maniacal laugh, and jumped in the air to try and bring the thing down on Natsu's head.

"Wait, you don't just freeze them over your fingers…" Lucy said in shock, as she glanced between me and the fight.

"Nope. I extend the ends of my nails, turn them to ice, and spread them over a wide area on my fingertips. Though I loose finger nails if they get ripped out." I said, as kept my attention on Natsu and Gajeel.

Natsu was dodging each attack Gajeel threw at him with the iron dragon sword he wielded, but only by a hairs width each time. There were even a couple of times the phantoms had to move because the attacks never hit. Poor idiots weren't even trying to stay back either…

"Not so cocky now? Are ya kid?" Gajeel snickered, as Natsu dodged attack after attack. "I think you're scared." Gajeel would say, trying to tempt Natsu with words to attack him. Thankfully, Natsu had his head on his shoulders and stayed focused.

After Natsu continued to doge the sword, Gajeel broke them apart, and watched as Natsu landed on his feet a few feet away.

"I'll give you credit… You're a nimble little fairy." Gajeel said, a look of being impressed on his face. "But we've still got a score to settle… No time like the present, wouldn't you agree?" Gajeel offered, as he took on a bit of a faraway look.

He must have been talking about the raid Fairy Tail made on Phantom Lord hours ago. Back when I was still out from trying to save Levy and her team from Gajeel last night…

"You're no slouch yourself, and I say bring it on. You're not gonna win anyway…" Natsu agreed, as he cracked his knuckles like he finished a warm up too. "So let's go rivet face… I'm all fired up!" He shouted.

Then, before another word could be said, Gajeel's very skin started to change. Seeing this, I felt my heart skip a beat before speeding up.

"Careful Natsu, his attacks are going to be twice as powerful now!" I shouted to him, just as Gajeel threw an attack at him.

Thankfully, due to my quick warning, Natsu managed to block an attack that would have broken a few ribs had it touched his abdomen. The attack itself threw Natsu back into the wall behind him. With Gajeel holding still now, we all could see what had happened.

"No way! Are those…" Lucy trailed off, too shocked to believe what she was seeing.

"Yeah… He's covered in iron dragon scales. In fact, he's in his dragon form right now." I said, as Natsu rolled over to hold his badly bruised left arm. The arm that had taken the iron dragon slayer's full force attack…

"Hearing you hit that wall was like music to my ears…" Gajeel laughed, as he sneered down at where Natsu sat.

"He was able to knock Natsu back with a single punch…" Lucy said, worry now on her face.

"That's because those scales are made out of steel." Happy said, remembering what I had said earlier.

Tuning the two out, I focused on Natsu's fight with Gajeel; who was currently knocking Natsu left and right, and all over the place with steel punches and attacks. However, I was quickly drawn out of my observations when I noticed a dangerous, cutting wind coming off of one of Gajeel's kicks. Which was heading right for Lucy, Happy, and I.

Jumping to my feet, I quickly jumped at the two, knocking all three of us to the floor. Which allowed the attack to hit the wall where we had been standing or sitting seconds before.

"There was that much wind from his kick?" Lucy nearly screeched, which was understandable seeing as she's been kidnapped, thrown around a bit, and nearly killed by a person strong enough to kill a dragon…

Ignoring her, I put my attention back on the fight, just in case this happened again while we were here.

Natsu lit his hand on fire, and punched Gajeel right in the face. To which Gajeel only smirked down at him, like nothing had happened in the first place.

"Poor little fairy that had to hurt… Hate to break it to you, but your puny hand won't even scratch this steel." Gajeel said, as Natsu proceeded to hold his hand, and roll around on the ground like an idiot; screaming that he wasn't hurt.

All I could do see this, was sweat drop.

On his third roll by, I sprung to my feet, grabbed him by the front of his vest, and started shaking the living shit out of him.

"STOP ACTING LIKE A FUCKING MORON AND KICK THIS GUYS ASS BEFORE I DO IT FOR YOU THEN KICK YOURS FOR THE FREAKING TROUBLE!" I shouted at him, shaking him the entire time, before throwing him on his feet near Gajeel, who could only laugh at the pitiful exchange that was happening.

_I swear Natsu, when this freaking migraine goes away, I'm going to kill you…_ I thought to myself, as I stood next to Lucy and Happy. Both of which fearfully back away a few steps at the dangerous aura I was emitting at that moment.

Thankfully, I managed to shake a little bit of sense into Natsu, as he then continued the fight like a sane dragon slayer.

Damn, did I need someone to pop me up the side of the head then, because the next thing I know, Natsu uses his breath attack, to which Gajeel uses his to counter it. It was steady at first, but that quickly flew out the window when the magic between the two flared before canceling each other out. Forcing me to use my magic to throw up an ice shield to protect Lucy, Happy, and I from flying shrapnel, and bits of fire.

The good thing was that it didn't last too long. Which was good because my ice shield had been completely destroyed. When the dust in the room cleared, I could see that the outer wall facing the guild hall had been blown out.

"Looks like there's a big difference between Iron and Fire dragon slayers. Aren't there, Salamander?" Gajeel jokingly asked, as he stood up straight, while Natsu was out of breath, and a little more than visibly beaten up.

"You can shower me with fire attacks until you run out of hot air, but it's not going to crack my armor." Gajeel said, as he held up his arms as if to give Natsu free reign to try and beat him. "On the other hand, just one of my breath attacks can rip your puny body to shreds…"

"Ha… I can't crack your armor huh?" Natsu said, as he grinned over at Gajeel. "You sure you're not feeling a draft buddy?" He asked, as a second later, a crack appeared on the right side of Gajeel's face.

"Huh…" was all Gajeel could say, as he stared wide eyed at Natsu in shock. I couldn't say I blamed him. After all, my ice could form scales just as hard as Gajeel's; and I would be surprised as he was if someone were to come along and shatter them too.

"Look, I don't breathe just any regular old fire." Natsu said, as he gripped the side of his vest, and pulled it off; after which he tosses it to the side. "The fire dragon's roar destroys anything it touches… Either way, let's get to the real fight. I'm going to shatter you into a million pieces." Natsu said, as he summoned a mini inferno around himself once more.

"LET'S GO!" Gajeel shouts then, as he summoned a wave of green magic around himself, which destroyed what was left of his shirt.

"Damn…" I found myself saying, before mentally shouting at myself. I couldn't believe that I had just applied that kind of word to my enemy, just because he looked hot without a shirt on, even while covered in dragon scales? Thankfully, though, everyone was too busy with watching the fight to notice my blush…

"Yep… They're both dragon slayers alright." Happy said, as he watched them with a serious face.

"Wow… They're really amazing." Lucy said, before blushing, and looking in a random direction other than Natsu. "And practically half naked…"

I couldn't help but crack a small grin at this. Even after everything, she still had a crush on Natsu…

"What are you complaining for…? One's the enemy, the other's dense, but at least they both look hot." I teased, as she blushed harder before glaring down at me.

"Excuse me, one of them is scary, and the one on our side is hot!" Lucy nearly shouted, before getting a knowing look on her face. "Wait, did I just heard you say that one's the enemy, and that he is also hot?" Lucy asked, as I blushed and turned back to the fight.

"Let's just pay attention in case a random attacks comes this way." I snapped, to which Lucy could only giggle at me over.

"Black Steel… I'm ready whenever you are…" Natsu said, as he got ready for battle.

"Sky's not big enough for two dragons kid." Gajeel replied, as he stood in a relaxed posture. He was really confident that we would lose. Poor bastard didn't know what was coming when you got a fairy tail wizard angry…

With that, they lunged at each other again, only this time, the force of their attacks were so intense, that Natsu and Gajeel took their fight up, and outside the building. The way they flew together, threw punches, and flew apart was almost like watching fireworks in the blue sky above. Eventually, they both came back down, and landed hard.

When the dust cleared, they both were bent over, and breathing hard.

"I don't believe it… He was actually able to keep up with him…" One of the Phantom members said in shock, as they too, stared at the two combating dragon slayers. So far, it looked as though they were evenly matched.

However, it wasn't going to last this way long; at least, up until Gajeel popped some metal in his mouth, and began to chew on his element.

"This isn't good…" I said, worry clear on my face.

"What do you mean, Icelynn? Why isn't it good?" Lucy asked me, as I kept my eyes firmly on Gajeel.

"When a dragon slayers out of magical energy, they can replenish it if they eat their element… In other words, Gajeel's about to be back at full strength, while Natsu's condition isn't going to change because there isn't any fire for him to eat. Or any ice for me to eat for that matter." I said, as I stood at the ready.

While back at full strength, Gajeel was capable of anything. Which included striking at us, resulting in Natsu not being able to reach us in time, as well as a lack of defense due to my wounded state. Already, I could feel drained after casting a simple ice shielding spell.

Understanding my meaning, my worried look mirrored itself into Lucy's eyes, as we both looked back at the two dragon slayers before us.

Swallowing one last piece of the iron buffet Gajeel sat on, he then looked up at Natsu with a smirk that meant nothing good for him.

"Now I've got a fire in my belly." Gajeel mimicked, as he stood to his feet.

"HEY! THAT'S MY LINE!" Natsu protested, as he freaked out about his catch phrase being stolen.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR STUPID LITTLE CATCH PHRASE YOU BLOCK HEAD! WORK ON FIGURING OUT HOW TO GET SOME FIRE IN YOUR OWN BELLY!" I shouted, as I flung a ball of ice at Natsu's head, as it hit, and left a big angry knot.

"Okay, okay…" He shouted, as he rubbed the sore spot on his head before getting serious once again. "But how can I do that when there's nothing to get fire from!?" He asked skeptically, as he nodded to the room itself.

Glancing around, I could see his dilemma. All around us were machines, and none were the type to produce fire unless they exploded. And I don't think that Gajeel would let us get close enough to it to make that happen either…

Lucy and I had to come up with some fire, and fast. Natsu needed a power up bad, especially since Gajeel just had one, and plenty more to spare.

"Wait a minute…" I heard Lucy say, as I glanced over at her. She was searching through her pockets and skirt form something. "Come on… Fire… Fire… Do I have any kind of fire spirit?" she asked herself before realization dawned on her features.

"Damn it! I forgot that I had lost my keys when I was captured." She said, as she pulled a new one from her pocket. It was the one we got from that S class quest we weren't supposed to have taken.

"Isn't that Sagittarius? Maybe he can shoot some kind of fire spell." I suggested. I didn't know if that's what this spirit could do, but it was worth summoning to find out.

"We haven't even worked out a contract yet, but I'll give it a shot…" Lucy said, before taking the stance she used when summoning a celestial spirit.

"I call upon thee in the world of the celestial spirits! I beckon you to my side at once! Pass through the gate!" she started, as a gold magic circle surrounded her form. "OPEN! GATE OF THE ARCHER: SAGITTARIUS!" Lucy shouted, as she summoned what looked like a man dressed in a horse costume…

"Howdy do, my lady!" Sagittarius said, as he stood in a soldier stance, and saluted in some random direction.

All the while, I'm in my head thinking what the hell is up with celestial spirits looking so damn funny, and acting weird. I could get that Cancer loves hair, Aquarius has her psycho bitchy moments, and that Taurus was a huge pervert; but this one was the strangest one yet…

"I'll explain everything later! Can you shoot fire?" Lucy asked him, skipping the introductions for now.

"No… But I'm quite proficient in archery… Yes indeedie…" He said, doing his salute thing again.

"Ok." Lucy said in defeat, as she slumped down next to me.

"If you want to salute her, she's over there." Happy said, up to the horseman, who looked over at where we were, and did his salute.

"Don't beat yourself up Lucy. You tried." I said, as Natsu warned us to move back some, which we did. We barely got back are enough when Natsu engulfed himself in flames, and charged headlong at Gajeel, who only stood where he was, and took the blow without so much as budging an inch.

Seeing this, made us freeze in shock, and apparently, Natsu as well.

"I've got a fire in my belly, but where's yours?" Gajeel teased, as he turned his arm into iron, and shoved it into Natsu's gut. "WHY DON'T YOU EAT SOME IRON!?" He shouted then, as he started pushing a trench into the floor using Natsu's face.

Having enough of this, I reached up to my necklace, and used the re quip spell to summon the weapon Storm had gifted to me before leaving me behind. It was for this sole purpose that this dragon scale had been given to me. So that I would have a key to my treasured sword.

Once it was firmly in my hand, I jump over to where he was about to push Natsu next, and brought my sword down and blocked the ongoing attack, and tossed it out of its path. Sadly for Natsu though, he went flying, and landed half way out of the hole in the wall that had been created earlier.

"What… You want to fight me too Ice Fairy?" Gajeel mockingly asked, as he pulled his iron fist back, and turned it back into a normal hand. Just covered in iron dragon scales though… "I've already had my fun, so I'm going to end it. The only one that can get lost though is the salamander." He said, as he looked over the top of my head, and out through the hole.

"Honestly, I don't know why you two are even willing to fight… Take a look at your guild hall." He said, nodding towards the wall.

It was then that I noticed screams and cries of frustration. As well as the sound of something be smashed to bits. Glancing over my shoulder, I felt my blood turn to ice, then start to boil. Out through the hole, I could see a huge phantom thing crushing the remains of the guild hall. At this, I felt my sight sharpen, my scalp starting to tingle as my hair changed colors, and a snarl rumbling out of my throat.

Turning to face Gajeel, I watched as everything took on a blue tint. I knew what was happening, my dragon blood was surfacing…

"Lucy… Get Natsu, and stay back… If I don't snap out of this, then you know what you have to do." I said, a growl punctuating each word that left my mouth.

"But Icelynn, you swore you'd never have to make me do _that_!" Lucy shouted in protest.

"We don't have much choice…" I said, as veins of ice scales began weaving swirling designs of ice over my skin, and around my eyes. I had entered my dragon force mode. A mode that took dragon slayers years to figure out. A mode they stay sane in, but not me.

Unlike most dragon slayers, I was born with actual dragon blood in my veins, so I tended to act like an animal. Which is why I had Lucy swear to me that if I went that far, and couldn't snap out of it, that she would end my life then and there…

Normally, I wouldn't let it get this far. However, circumstances say otherwise. I don't have much time, so I had to do this quickly. My level of magic energy is depleted, I'm wounded, and lost a lot of blood. Things don't look good…

Turning my gaze back to Gajeel, he had stopped laughing, and looked at me with a sick glee for violence. Well, I was about to show him how violent a pissed off dragon could be…

"You bastard…" I said, in a low and dangerous voice. "I'LL KILL YOU!" I shouted, as I lunged at him, and we began to trade dragon slayer attacks. He'd throw an iron club at me, and I'd freeze it to the floor. A second later, he was right in front of me, and landed a harsh kick to my wounded side, shattering the thin layer of ice I had used to try and slow the bleeding. Bleeding that had now picked back up.

Seeing that he was gaining the upper hand, Natsu jumped in, only to be swatted back out. Poor guy was completely drained, and when he hit the machinery behind him; slumped over, and was out in seconds.

"Natsu!" I called, trying to see if he was okay, but I didn't get an answer. Nor did I get the chance when Gajeel seized me by the throat, and slammed me backwards and into the ground.

"Jeez Ice Fairy. This is the second time we've fought, and you were too wounded, and half out of it this time. The first time, you acted in anger… Now look where I've got you. Pinned, and about to clip your wings…" He said, as he pulled his arm up, and turned into in to the iron dragon sword.

This was it… he was going to end me…

As he went to bring it down to finish me, I saw something in his eyes. I could see that a part of him didn't want to hurt anyone like this. However, it was slowly being eaten away by an uncontrollable urge for violence and bloodshed. Almost like he was being slightly controlled…

However, I didn't get long to think about it before my demise, before an explosion blew us in separated directions. Once it was over, I rolled up to my feet in a crouch, and searched around for my enemy and allies.

Lucy and Happy were easy to spot enough, because they had been at the back of the room. Natsu was over by the hole in the wall again, eating the fire from the explosion. As a couple of debris fell around me, I spotted a ruined arrow. Glancing back over at Sagittarius, I figured out what had happened. He had shot the machinery, causing the explosion.

Once most of the fire was in Natsu's stomach, I spotted Gajeel looking at Natsu with a serious look on his face. He could tell that things weren't good for him at the moment. With his magical energy restored, Natsu shouldn't have a hard time beating Gajeel's ass now…

Placing a hand on my throbbing side once more, I applied more pressure. The make shift bandage I made out of the bottom of my tank top was already bled through. Not to mention that I could now feel shards of ice embedded in my wound, and around the skin.

As Gajeel and Natsu went back to throwing punches at each other, with Natsu starting to win, I went back to where Lucy, Happy, and Sagittarius were standing.

Once I reached them, I felt myself become light headed. I had lost a lot of blood.

The sound of a breath attack, drew me back to the fight, just in time to watch as Natsu deflected Gajeel's iron dragon roar with his bare hands. I couldn't help but stare wide eyed at him. An attack like that should have torn him to shreds.

_Just how strong is this guy?_ I couldn't help but think, as he continued to beat Gajeel.

After the breath attack was ended, Gajeel charged forward with the intention of punching Natsu's lights out, only for his fits to be met with Natsu's before his dragon scales cracked all the way up his arm.

"You're through Black Steel! FLAME LOTUS FIRE DRAGON FIST!" Natsu shouted, as he started punching Gajeel over and over, cracking his iron scaled armor with each punch. "LEVY… JET… DROY… MAB… MACOW… GRAMPS… ERZA… ICELYNN… AND LUCY!" he kept going, until he reached Lucy's name, and threw Gajeel backwards with a powerful flame upper cut.

Natsu then proceeded to throw more and more punches, pushing Gajeel farther towards the hole in the wall.

"This is for attacking my friends, and for destroying the guild hall!" Natsu said, before sending Gajeel flying out of the hole in the wall and out to the roof top of the Phantom Lord Guild hall. However, his attack was so powerful, that it completely destroyed the room we had been standing in.

When it fell apart, Happy quickly snatched Lucy and me up, and floated up in the air until it was safe for him to put us down. Once we were on the ground, we started looking for Natsu. It didn't take us long to spot him standing on a ledge, looking down below him. As we got closer, we could spot another ledge below us that had a thoroughly beaten Gajeel lying flat on his back.

"Natsu! You did it!" Happy shouted, as he started to fly excitedly around his partner, who then collapsed on his back, grinning from ear to ear as he went.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted, as she went over to his side to see if he was alright. I couldn't help but grin at the smile the idiot was putting off as Lucy fussed over him. He was an idiot most of the time, but he wasn't oblivious to girls he liked in the least…

Turning away from them, I looked back over the ledge at Gajeel. He wasn't moving, so I decided to get down there to see if he was still even alive. To my right, I found make shift steps made out of debris, so I climbed down there to where he was.

You could tell that Gajeel was beaten up pretty badly.

When I reached him, I looked down at him. Nudging him with my foot, he snapped out of his daze, and looked up at me in defeat.

"Unless you're going to kill me Ice Fairy, you might as well get going." He growled at me, as he turned to stare up at the blue sky.

"By all rights, I should… But I'm not that kind of person." I said, as I continued to look down at him. "You were under a compulsion spell just now."

At this, Gajeel turned his head away in shame.

"Just leave me be." He said stubbornly.

Before I could say another word, however, a golden glow surrounded the entire Phantom Lord Guild hall. Seeing this, Gajeel flinched as it passed over us. It was Gramps' fairy law spell. A spell I had only heard of once I joined fairy tale…

Once it passed over us, I watched as Gajeel sat up in shock. Looking down at himself, he looked over at me to confirm that he was still here.

I couldn't help but be shocked as well. Fairy Law was a spell that took out its caster's enemies, and yet, Gajeel was perfectly fine. Meaning that Master Makarov had sensed something about Gajeel that made him anything but an enemy in his eyes.

As Gajeel moved to more than likely ask me how he was fine after all of that, when Natsu jumped from the upper ledge to this one. Behind him was Happy who set Lucy down on her feet.

"Hey Gajeel, can I ask you something?" Natsu asked, as he walked over.

"Either end me or leave me alone." Gajeel said once again, before looking away from everyone once again.

"I just want to know where you learned dragon slaying magic…" Natsu said, pressing for answers.

"I told you to beat it." He said in a low voice, knowing it wouldn't do him any good.

"He has a good question… Besides, you're the second person who uses similar magic to the both of us." I said, interested in his answer myself.

"Metalicanna…" He said a second later in a low voice. Almost like he didn't want to speak any louder.

"Huh…" Natsu said, in confusion.

"Metalicanna, the Iron Dragon." Gajeel said, louder, and more slowly so that Natsu could get it.

"I thought you might have been taught by a dragon too!" Natsu shouted in excitement.

"Why? Were you?" Gajeel asked Natsu, before looking over at me. "What about you?"

"I was taught by Storm, The Ice dragon." I said, answering his question.

"I was taught by Igneel… And what about Metalicanna, do you know where he is?" Natsu asked eagerly. Just as he had asked me the day he found out that I too was a dragon slayer.

"I have no idea." Gajeel said, looking back at water around us, I was trying desperately to ignore.

"DAMN IT! THIS SUCKS! He doesn't know anything either Icelynn!" Natsu whined, as he looked over at Lucy, Happy, and I as he pouted.

"Come on! You gotta know something!" Natsu shouted, jumping into Gajeel personal space.

"I already told ya! I DON'T KNOW! HE DISAPPEARED SEVEN YEARS AGO!" Gajeel shouted back, literally bumping heads with Natsu for a second before pulling back and rubbing their now sore heads.

"Man, I feel like I'm killing off brain cells just talking to you." Gajeel said, to which I could only giggle at.

"You're not the only one." I said, as I chuckled darkly, before standing to my feet. "Either way, I'm getting out of here. Things in water don't suit me too well." I said, as I moved away from them.

Unfortunately, I didn't get far before I collapsed. The last thing I heard before I went under completely, was Lucy's calling to me in worry…

….

_Dear Storm,_

_ The war with Phantom Lord is over, and Fairy Tale came out the victor. However, the price we paid for this victory was the total destruction of our guild hall. Everyone is alive and well though. And our Master is healthy as he can be in hid old age. _

_ When the fight was over with, the Rune Knights showed up, and cornered everyone in the guild off for extensive interrogations that lasted for a week. In the end, the magic counsel agreed that Phantom Lord was to blame for the war between the guilds, and that we acted in self-defense. It was also ordered that the guild itself disband, as well as their master be arrested for endangering not only the lives of those who were in our guild, but the entire town as well._

_ Can you believe that the Phantom Lord Master had the audacity to use an abyss break spell? It was big enough to wipe out an entire town. Thankfully though, some of my friends in the guild were able to stop it before it could be cast. I wish I could have helped them in some way, but I was too wounded from taking a direct hit from a Jupiter cannon. _

_ At the end of everything, Levy, Jet, and Droy have recovered nicely. As have I. Though, I now have a scar on my side from where the blast hit me with the most damage._

_ I also can't help but wonder what happened to the other dragon slayer I met, Gajeel. Turns out, that Gajeel isn't as bad of a person as he was made out to be in the war with Phantom Lord. Apparently, the guild master had been using a form of compulsion spell to make Gajeel want to do the horrible things he did. _

_ Also, I learned that he too, was trained by the iron dragon Metalicanna. I wonder if you know this iron dragon. Hell, I wonder if you're still even out there Storm…_

_ Either way, we've started to rebuild the guild hall. And we've also gotten a new member. Her name is Juvia, the rain woman who use to be a part of Phantom Lord. She had a change of heart, and is now a really good friend. As long as you don't have in interest in Gray of course…_

_ Well, I'm off to go and see how the guild hall's coming along…_

_Love always,_

_Icelynn Lace._

_Ps. I find that I don't mind my last name anymore. In fact, I kind of like it…_

…_._

_Icelynn…_

Folding up the letter, I stuffed it into the box with the others. It had been a solid month since the war with Phantom Lord had ended. At the moment, I have the house to myself. Lucy was out on a mission with Gray, Natsu, and Erza. My wound was still healing, so I had no choice but to stay behind.

Standing to my feet, I stretched my limbs, and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Once I was clean, and smelled like a snow berry, I stepped out and dressed. My blue tank top and black shorts had been completely ruined by all of the blood I had lost. Not to mention that they had to be cut from my body so that I could be treated.

So recently, I've taken to wearing black jeans, my black boots, and a midnight blue with ice blue designs, one shoulder tank top that showed off my guild mark and bare left shoulder.

Dressed, I then locked up the apartment, and headed for the guild hall. Last night before I left, the master asked that I come in early today to talk about something. Reaching the guild, I waved back at those who greeted me as I made my way to the master's office on the second floor. Of which is no longer off limits to those who aren't S class. After our little S class quest incident, the master set up a special room for those kinds of quests, and had Freed; one of Laxus' _Thunder Legion_, use his script magic to keep all but S class wizards out.

Reaching the master's door, I knocked on it gently.

"Come in." the master shouted from the inside. Opening the door, I paused as I saw that Gramps wasn't alone. In a chair across from him was the newest member, Juvia. Closing the door behind me, I took the empty seat next to her. Instantly, I had a hunch on what this discussion was going to be about…

"Now that you are here Icelynn, my child, there is something Juvia here has brought to my attention. I have asked you to come so that I may ask you about it… If I were to bring this to all of those brats down stairs, then they'd go crazy…" Master Makarov said, as he glanced at the door, and back to us.

"Okay." I said, as I glanced from him to Juvia, who had a nervous look on her face.

"Juvia, it's alright. Just tell her what you told me." Makarov said, as he looked over at her, giving her a kind fatherly smile.

"I was wondering if one of my old friends from Phantom Lord could join Fairy Tale… The rest all went their separate ways, but he has not. I think… I think that he's punishing himself by falling into the dark side in solitude. All for the horrible things he was forced to do by Master Jose… While he loves trouble, he doesn't like to hurt others for no reason. Master Jose didn't like it, and started using a mind controlling compulsion spell on him. That combined with the fact that he had nowhere else to go, he willingly let Master Jose do it to him." Juvia said, as she continued to look down at her feet. "Forgive me… I have no right to ask this of you, or this guild. Not after what he's done to you and the others." Juvia said, as she looked over at me, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Sighing heavily, Makarov looked at me with confusion his face, then shock as I gently bopped Juvia over her head. All Juvia could do when I did this, was blink up at me.

"That apology isn't yours to give, silly… In fact, I was expecting you to ask about that iron headed dragon slayer sooner or later." I said, as I thought back to the way Gajeel's eyes were when he was about to finish me off, and the way they looked after the fight was over with.

"You did?" Juvia asked, as Makarov turned to look out the window with a smirk on his face. So, he had noticed it too huh…

"When we fought the second time, I could see it in his eyes. He hated himself for what he was doing, but something else was over powering it. When we were told that Jose had used mind magic on him, my suspicions were confirmed." I said, as I sat back down in the empty chair. "I just hope that you understand that joining this guild won't be easy for him… With everything he's done, the other members won't take kindly to him. Later on, some might, but who knows…"

"You fought him a second time!?" Makarov said, a look of shock in his voice. "How could you be so reckless!? I was told of your injuries from the blast from the Jupiter canon, and yet you fought him any way!" He scolded, as I could only look at him sheepishly.

"Had no choice really…" I mumbled, as he calmed down.

"Either way… What's done is done… Juvia, the only one who could answer your request would have to be the man himself. Icelynn, am I correct in assuming that you do not mind. After all, your wounds from this person were the most severe…" Makarov asked, as he looked at me. The look in his eyes told me to think carefully, and choose wisely.

Taking a deep breath, I looked dead at Juvia. "If I had a problem with it, I would have turned and left the second Juvia made it obvious who she was talking about." I said, letting my breath out slowly. "So, no, I don't have a problem with it… In fact, I think it would probably be best for him… I found myself in a similar situation once… Even though the man who pulled me out of my darkness later was a tyrant over me and his daughter, who I later found a little sister in. In the end, I wouldn't deserve the right to have been fought over by this guild if I let another fall into a similar darkness, without trying to help prevent it." I said, to which Makarov smirked over at me in pride.

"Well said my child." He said, as he stood from his desk. "Now Juvia… Where can I find him?" He asked, turning back to Juvia, who looked at us with a smile in her face, with tears of thankfulness in her eyes.

"Gajeel's been staying in what's left of the ruins of our old guild hall… I can't thank you enough Master… Nor you Icelynn." Juvia said, as she stood up, and put me in a bear hug. After that, she said her goodbye's and left. Once she was gone, I turned to leave as well, but I found myself pausing.

"Is there something you want to ask me, Icelynn?" Makarov asked, watching me carefully.

"I want to go with you when you leave to find him." I said, as I turned to face his confused look.

"Why?" he asked slowly. I could understand why he would ask that of me. Normally, people like me, Lucy, Levy, Jet, and Droy would want to steer clear of the person who has hurt them the way Gajeel hurt each of us.

"Because I want to see if that look in Gajeel's eyes I saw during our fight is still there… Hell, half of the time, I'm not sure if I saw it at all." I said, honestly. Then another thought occurred to me. "How come you would ask my opinion? Why not include Lucy, Jet, Droy, or Levy?" I asked.

"Levy, Jet, and Droy's minds are still a bit haunted by that night Gajeel attacked them. You got over it more quickly. Besides, they are still wounded. Lucy not only has a lot on her mind about her father, and is away on a mission at the moment. On the other hand, you Icelynn, not only has a clearer judgment concerning Gajeel, but you've also fought him. In doing so, you were able to see things most others might not, being a dragon slayer yourself… In fact, before he left on a mission, even Natsu told me the same thing you did…" Makarov trailed off, as he looked out the sole window in his office. "Very well… Be here tomorrow morning." He said, as he then dismissed me.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, and we set off for the slums that the phantom lord guild hall ruins had become…

…

_Gajeel…_

"Why do I even bother to come back here?" I muttered to myself, as I sat in what was left of my former home. The guild I had once belonged to, was now disbanded, and the mark on my right shoulder erased from my skin forever. Not that I mind…

After what that guild had become, I had started to hate the very mark. Yet, I couldn't leave. The Phantom Lord Guild had become my home, which was something I hadn't had as a kid. Since Metalicanna, the jerk, had left me behind when I was twelve. Now here I was, out of work, unable to leave because of my guilty conscience, and fucking homeless because of it…

Walking around in what was left of the guild hall, I stopped and sat on top of a huge pile of broken walls. The piece I was sitting on had a huge blood stain on it. _Her blood…_

The smell of fresh fallen snow had faded over the time since I found it, and started haunting this particular place. Every time the scent of that Ice Fairy hits my nose, I can't help but think back to when she shoved her sister out of the way of my iron club, and the words she said to me afterwards…

Not to mention the strong loyalty she expressed towards her guild. A guild she clearly thought of as her family. Which confused me…

She was raised by one of the wealthiest families in Fiore, and yet she thinks and acts like someone of a lower class. Hell, she thinks of them as family, even though there aren't any blood ties connecting the two.

"Damn it Gajeel, you're not here to think about her or that guild…" I scolded myself, as I reached down as snagged a piece of rusted iron, and bit into it. I couldn't help but grimace at the taste of it, but chewed anyway. Thanks to me being a dragon slayer, I could survive on my element rather than food for a while, at least. Once I reach that limit though, I'm pretty much done for, because all that would be left for me to do would be to starve to death.

I would try to join another guild, however, there aren't any that would accept me. Hell, all but one turned down Juvia, and her actions were tame compared to mine. At the thought of the only wizard who would help me out in this guild, I couldn't help but wonder how she was fairing in the guild she had joined.

My thoughts were then interrupted when I heard someone say something from behind me.

"Hey there!" said a familiar voice that had shivers of fear running down my spine. Whirling around, I spotted the short master of Fairy Tale, and someone I never expected to spot again. I didn't scent either of them coming. And even if I had, I doubt I would have noticed that the Ice Fairy was here as well with the scent of her still in this area.

"You're Master Makarov." I said nervously, as the old guy smiled up at me, and walked over to climb up on top of the pile of rubble I was standing on. After a few minutes of struggling, the Ice Fairy snagged him by the back of his jacket, and jumped up near to where I was sitting, and set him down beside her.

As she did this, I couldn't help but examine how she was. The only visible injury she has at the moment, was the slowly healing busted lip. I also couldn't help but notice that her eyes were also different. Instead of a pale blue with a slit pupil, they looked more normal, and were a deep blue.

"So, did you come here to gloat? And what about you Ice Fairy? You come along to hand out pay back?" I couldn't help but ask them. Honestly, I had expected them to show up sooner or later, just for this purpose. Besides, when we fought, the Ice Fairy had looked like she wanted to destroy me. Then something changed…

"What a nice hello indeed. Not big on manners are you?" Makarov said, as the Ice Fairy remained silent. "But no, I haven't come to gloat. Neither is Icelynn here to pick a fight." He said, as I glanced from him to the Ice Fairy's deep blue eyes. Eyes that I could feel looking straight through my red ones. Meeting her eyes, I found myself looking away in shame.

She was the one I hurt most of all, so why was she here, if not to come after me?

"You're friend Juvia, is also the newest member of our guild. In fact, she's the one who asked us to come and see you out of concern for your wellbeing." Makarov continued, as he drew my attention back to him.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I shouted in shock. Of all the guilds to join, I never would have thought that Juvia would have joined, let alone get in the guild we had tried to tear down. "That woman's got too much rain in her brain…" I said, before throwing the chunk of metal towards the bottom of the pile of rubble in frustration. I might be frustrated, but a small part of me was happy that she had at least found a guild.

I kind of wish that I could find a guild to join like she did. However, things are over for me…

"So, do you know what you're next move is?" Makarov asked me, as he looked at me expectantly.

"Next move? I don't know… Just keeping my options open I guess." I answered lamely. Options open? Ha, I couldn't have come up with a worse thing to say when I'm really just wasting myself away into the darkness…

However, I was then popped gently upside the head. Turning around to look at whoever did it in shock, I froze when I realized that it was the Ice Fairy who had done it. Not to mention the frown she had on her face. Feeling that I probably deserved worse, I then turned my gaze away.

"Don't you dare look away from me in shame after saying bullshit like that, Gajeel Redfox!" she snapped, causing me to look back at her in shock. "If you have the guts to call letting yourself waste away keeping your options open, then you better not break eye contact with those you're saying it to… Juvia had told us that you hated what you did, and I can see what she means." The Ice Fairy said, causing me to gape at her in even more shock.

"I also have a question for you… But you better answer it carefully…. What were your reasons for going to war with Fairy Tail?" she asked me then.

Letting my gaze rest on her and the old man for a moment longer, I then turned my face to look at where the metal chunk I had thrown landed. My reason for going to war with Fairy Tale… I'm not even sure of that answer anymore…

"And, what is your idea of a guild? What do _you_ want to do with the powers that you possess?" Makarov asked, tacking his own questions at the end.

"You two sure do have a lot of questions." I couldn't help but say, as I glanced over my shoulder at them for a second, as I thought about them…

"And they're all pretty much the same… Like what kind of man you see yourself as? And does that show the same kind of man you are in your heart?" He paused, as he looked up at the sky, and asked the questions I had been asking myself all along. "If Jose had asked it of you, would you have taken a life with your own hands? Is his power that absolute? Is his wish your command?" He asked waiting for a response.

"You'd be nothing but his puppet if that were the case…" the Ice Fairy said then, catching my attention. "But I never got that impression from you when we fought Gajeel." She said, as I slowly looked over my shoulder at her. She wasn't looking over at me, instead, she held a hand to the side that had been injured on the day we fought…

"Would you guys stop talking and get lost… Didn't I tell you already Icelynn, that unless you're going to end me, to beat it." I said, in defeat. They were getting to me, and I couldn't let them. I deserved to be alone…

I heard Makarov take a breath to say something, but the Ice Fairy beat him to it.

"You know, I was like you once…" she said, as I felt my eyes snap wide open. At this, I couldn't help but look over at her.

"You? Like me?" I asked in confusion. There was no way that could be true. The way she fought for Fairy Tail, for her unrelated sister, how could she have been at a point like mine?

"My dragon, Storm had just abandoned me in the frozen Northern Mountains in the kingdom of Iceberg. I was lost, alone, and had ended up resorting to stealing and hurting others to survive. I was only thirteen when the head of the Heartfilia family found me, and took me in. Even then, things didn't exactly get better, but they were better than living the life in the darkness I was quickly plummeting into. The life of solitude while falling into darkness… It's hard, and never is easy, nor does it end well." She said, pausing to look over at me. "I hate his guts now, but if it weren't for Jude Heartfilia, then I would be worse off than you are right now… By now, I probably would have gone and joined a dark guild, but thanks to him that never happened… Now tell me, how can I repay that kindness if I let someone else who is on that same path fall? If I did that, then I don't deserve the family I have now in Fairy Tale." She said, as she narrowed her eyes at me.

Facing forward once again, I let everything I had just been told sink in. Out of everyone I've come across so far, she was the only one who understood perfectly. Hell, she'd been through it. I knew she wasn't lying, due to the way her eyes looked. They probably had the same look in them for a minute, as mine currently are…

"Long story short, solitude is a fate no one should bestow upon themselves for the wrongs they've done against others…" she continued, before her eyes turned back to that familiar pale blue. "Not if they hope to make things right… Being alone, and wasting away makes the wrong's a person's done worse because you don't get the chance to make them right once you're dead." She said, as she fixed those eyes on me, causing a shiver to go up my spine. "That's one lesson that you don't want to learn the hard way…" she said.

After a tense minute of silence passed, Makarov decided to break it with a question I'd never thought I would hear the old man every say to me.

"She's right Gajeel… Which means I'm giving you a chance to make things right… Join my guild?" he asked, as I looked over at him in shock.

"Whoa! You've got to be kidding me!" I shouted, as I jumped to my feet, and looked down at the little old guy. "Are you two fucking crazy? Why the hell would I do that!?" I continued, as I took as many steps as I could back away from them.

"You know I'm the one who trashed your guild hall, right?" I asked them, once I calmed myself down, and looked at my bare feet.

"Yes…" Makarov said, as he looked at me seriously.

"And you Ice Fairy… You know what I did to your friends… Hell, I even did it to you. And your sister…" I said, as I glanced over at her. And just in time for her to walk over, and stand almost nose to nose with me as her pale eyes burned with fury.

"Oh I haven't forgotten…" she said, a growl in her voice. "And just so you know, letting it go wasn't easy… Especially because the last guy who did anything like that to Lucy didn't last very long afterwards, I made sure of it. However, I could tell you didn't want to do any of it… Hell, I don't care if you willingly let Jose mind control you or not anymore… If it weren't for that fact, then I wouldn't be considering at which point I'm going to forgive you for it."

At this, my eyes widened, as hers cooled back to that deep blue. I didn't understand. She shouldn't even be _forgiving_ me at all for what I've done against her or her friends.

"I don't understand…" I said, as I started thinking about joining their guild as she took a step back. However, that was all I could get out before a monstrous killing intent made the both of us freeze, and glance over at Makarov.

"While we are on the topic of forgiveness, I would like for you to know Gajeel that a part of me will never forgive you. In fact, you'd be dead at this moment had Jose not had my power drained when we invaded this guild hall… Lucky for you, I've had some time to calm myself, and think since then." He said, as he suppressed his magic to a non-threatening level, and smiled at me.

"Now that that's cleared up, what do you say?" Icelynn said then, as she held out her hand. "Care for a second chance many try to find, but few get?" she asked, daring me to reach for it.

I would be lying if I said that my heart didn't skip a beat, and then start to beat faster as I looked at her small hand. In a few seconds, I thought over everything. I knew that another chance like this would never come around, and deep down, I realized that I didn't want to die alone. I'd been alone for years, and now I had a way out, and to make up for what I've done…

Without wasting another second, I reached out and grabbed her hand. "I'll join." I said, as she smiled up at me.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail my boy." Makarov said, as he smirked over at me as well.

I couldn't help but smile back as I let go of the Ice Fairy's hand. I know I don't have it yet, but I'll figure out how to gain the forgiveness of his guild. One way or another, I'll learn the meaning of forgiveness as well…

….

Next Chapter – Chapter 7 – Fantasia

….

Yay! Gajeel is now on good terms with Fairy Tail. Not to mention that he will be close to Levy, seeing as he doesn't want her to be scare of him and all; and that the guild will maybe think better of him if they see that she isn't afraid of him. However, he's going to also be really close to Icelynn.

Though I do like the whole Gajeel and Levy pairing, I started thinking up one for Gajeel for a fan fiction before it became obvious that Levy likes Gajeel, and that he cares about her in some way. Either way, I'm continuing because I like my character, and I made her to be similar to Gajeel, but different.

Hope you guys enjoy, and I'll get to work on the next chapter.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Bugg18


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Fantasia

_Icelynn..._

As I made my way to the guild hall, I couldn't help but feel happy. It was a bright and sunny day, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Erza were coming home; and the guild hall had finally been completed. Not to mention that we gained two new guild members who had a change of heart for the better. Juvia had settled in nicely, but Gajeel was having a bit of trouble like I had thought he would. And if the looks from my guild mates are anything to go by, then I'd say that they aren't too happy with me at the moment.

Well, to be fair, the majority don't really care. The ones who keep shooting me dirty looks are Levy's team mates Jet and Droy. They see my siding with Master in letting Gajeel join as a form of betrayal. Not that I can blame them, nor do I really care, so long as they don't cause any trouble because of it.

Levy on the other hand, she was still nervous whenever Gajeel was around, but she's at least trying to look past all of it.

Reaching the guild hall, I opened the door and walked inside...

…...

_Gajeel..._

As I sat in the new guild hall of Fairy Tail, which I had just officially joined, I kept my eyes on the drink I had and off of the cold glares I could feel searing through my skull. I knew that joining this guild would be tough after what I did, and that its members will be way less than friendly, but damn, I don't think I could have prepared for their anger to be this heated.

Especially that of the two male fairies I had pinned up to that tree in the town square when I started the war between this guild and my old one. Jet and Droy, as I've been told. The Shrimp always hid behind either those two idiots, or behind a wooden column if they weren't present. It was really easy to see that she was scared as hell of me. Not that I could blame her...

Look what I did to them and the Ice Fairy for God's sake.

At this thought, the image of her hand offering me a second chance and forgiveness flashed through my mind. The fact that she even considered forgiving me still baffled me. The forgiveness she showed me, she may be the only person here who would ever give it to me.

Any further thoughts were then put on hold when the guild doors opened, and I caught the scent of fresh fallen snow. Looking up from the darkened corner of the guild hall I now occupy, I glanced over at her. She was back in an outfit that looked just like the one she wore when the war with Fairy Tail had started. Light blue tank top, black shorts and boots. The only difference was that she had a black vest with multiple pockets on, and she wore black socks. Probably since it was starting to get cold. It was heading towards fall after all.

She was without Blondie again, who was more than likely out on a mission with Titania, the ice stripper, and Salamander.

As she passed by, the guild members waved at and greeted her. Levy ran over and hugged her really quickly, and dashed back to her hiding place. Her team mates on the other hand, only cast a heated glare at her. The day I came here, they were the least happy about my joining. In fact, they had loudly protested it, nearly causing a brawl to take place over it.

She went to the bar, and greeted Mirajane, and softly spoke to her about if today was the day Blondie was supposed to come back. To which Mirajane said that they should. After that, she turned, and scanned the guild floor. When her eyes stopped on me, she walked over.

…...

_Icelynn..._

Scanning over those who were here in the guild, I spotted Gajeel sitting in the corner of the guild. A wide berth of space between him and the next group of people who would dare to sit that close to him.

I watched him as he watched me walk over. He was still wary of my presence, like he was still expecting me to hurt him in payback for what he's done. Even though he knows that I'm not going to do anything to him.

"So how are you settling into the guild?" I asked him, as I sat across from him. Back behind me, I could feel all the vibes of _are you insane?_ Coming from my guild members back behind me. I could even hear Jet and Droy talking behind my back in angered tones. I just chose to ignore them for now.

"Alright I guess..." Gajeel said, as he glanced over my shoulder at the other guild members. "Only you, Mirajane, Juvia, and Master Makarov don't seem to hate my guts."

"Yeah, I can see that... Jet and Droy are all prissy because I stood by Master's side in allowing you in the guild. Not that I care. If they have a problem, all they have to do is come forward. Until then, they can sit back and pout all they want." I said, as I looked over my shoulder at the two, and sent them a frosty glare, causing them to shut their stupid mouths in slight fear. They were about to insult me in the worse possible way, after all.

Gajeel couldn't help but chuckle at this.

A second later, Team Natsu showed up...

"Oh shit..." I muttered, as I jumped up from where I was sitting, and jumped around the table to sit next to Gajeel. Thankfully, he was big and tall enough to hide me from the view of my sister and friends.

Glancing over at them, Gajeel then raised a studded eye brown at me.

"And you're hiding from them because?" He asked, as he thankfully sat up to make sure I couldn't be seen right away.

"Because I don't know if Lucy is going to be pissed off at me enough to summon the sea witch on me..." I whispered back.

"Sea witch?" Gajeel asked, as he blinked down at me in confusion.

"You don't want to know." I said, as I started feeling green just thinking about her water spirit.

….

_Lucy…_

I couldn't help but look excitedly from one thing to another as I examined the new guild hall. I had expected it to still be under construction when we got back, but I guess we spent more time in Akane than what we had originally thought. After all, Erza had to heal from the worst of her wounds before we could do any extensive traveling.

Since arriving, my best friend, and Fairy Tail's resident book worm, Levy; was giving us the grand tour of the new guild hall. At the moment, we are standing in the main hall, where Levy was pulling the tour to a close. Already, we've seen the training area, and new pool out back.

"This place sure has changed a lot." I couldn't help but giggle out as I took everything in.

"Yeah… But the biggest change is the second floor up stairs. Now, you don't have to be an S class wizard to gain access up there. Master even lets us go on more S class quests, but only if an S class wizard agrees to accompany us beforehand. Heck, one has to agree before you can even look through the S class requests." Levy explained, as Elfman looked over the railing of the second floor, and waved down at us.

"What's up with you man?" I heard Gray ask Natsu.

"I'm not good with change." The oddly silent fire dragon slayer said back, as he hid half of his face into his scarf.

Any further questions were then put on hold when the Master walked up.

"Well, I'm glad you dunderheads made it back safely." He said to us, with a kind smile, before nodding his head in the direction of the person standing next to him. "I'd like you to meet one of Fairy Tail's newest members, Juvia… Isn't she a cutie…?" He said, as Juvia stepped forward.

"I look forward to working with all of you." She said with a smile and a wave, to which Gray let out a friendly chuckle.

"I see you made it in." He said with a smile.

"Thanks for helping us in Akane." Erza said, as she stepped forward and shook Juvia's hand. She really was a big help. Whenever she wasn't a succubus for that rocker reject we had to fight. Juvia felt really bad when she found out that she had shredded my top in front of that guy. Had Icelynn been there, she would have outright killed that guy for daring to do such a thing…

"No, I should be thanking you. Thanks to you, I now have a new guild to be a part of." Juvia said happily.

"Hey girl!" I said, waving at her.

"WE WILL FIGHT FOR GRAY!" She nearly screeched in a demonic voice.

"Not necessary…" I muttered in slight fear, as I felt dangerous tension waves coming off of her.

"We've also added another member to the guild. Someone you might recognize." Master said then, grabbing all of our attentions before pointing behind himself.

"I wonder who it is…" I heard Happy say, as we all turned to look.

All of our eyes met all too painfully familiar red eyes of the last guy I'd thought I'd ever see in the guild without a bad intention towards it, or its members.

"Gajeel!" I heard Natsu shout, as he caught sight of him as well.

"Why'd you let him in here Gramps?" Gray demanded, as he and Natsu went into defensive stances. However, before Master could give an explanation, Natsu went to strike Gajeel. Only to be held up by _Icelynn_ who had been sitting on the other side of Gajeel. Catching Natsu's raised fist, she shoved him backwards onto his butt. Being shocked by her presence anywhere near the iron dragon slayer, Natsu couldn't help but land on the floor.

"Jeez Natsu, not everything can be solved by hitting first, and asking questions later." She scolded, as the rest of us looked at her in shock…

…...

_Icelynn…_

I had really hoped that things wouldn't have to come out like this. Honestly, I was hoping that I could stay hidden beside Gajeel until they moved on; but no, Natsu just had to be as pig headed as usual and try to pick a fight.

So now here I was, standing between Gajeel, and my sister's team.

"Please calm down…" Juvia pleaded, as she stood beside Gray. "I asked him to come with me."

"I don't mind Juvia, but he's another matter." Erza spoke then, shifting her glaring eyes from the dragon slayer behind me, to me. "And as for you Icelynn… I don't understand why you would defend him after everything he's done to you and this guild." She said with disappointment in her voice.

"You can cut the disappointment trip Erza… I know fully well what was done. But it's _done_… And honestly, do you think I would have told master to give him a chance when I was asked about it _by_ Gramps; had I not thought that things would be bad?" I questioned her, as Erza kept her gaze locked with mine.

"Enough!" Master said then, calling our attention back to him. "All of you remember what I've taught you: Yesterdays enemy may be today's friend. Right?" He scolded.

"Yeah… I'm also okay with him being here, so should the rest of you too." Levy said, from behind the table the poor thing was hiding behind. Not that I could blame her. That night was traumatizing for both her and Shadow Gear. If I had made it sooner, I could have spared them…

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Jet and Droy's sour mood worsen as they heard Levy say this. If they got any bitterer, then they were bound to do something they'll either regret, or something horribly wrong…

"There ain't no way!" Natsu said, as he walked over to where Gajeel sat. "How can I work with someone I can't trust?" he demanded, as he banged his fist on the table, to which Gajeel just looked up at him with a scary smirk.

"What's the big deal? It's not like I want to be your buddy." He said, as Natsu got a _wow, that's cold_ expression. "The only reason I'm here is to get work… I hate this stupid guild and everyone in it, but times were tough, and there was little choice." He said, as he stood to his feet to stand toe to toe with Natsu.

"Shut up loser!" Natsu shouted at him.

I don't know why, but I felt a pang when he said that he hated everyone in it. After all, he was getting along with me just fine since he joined. Now he says he hates me…

Stamping down on the angry growl that wanted to erupt from my mouth, I turned and left the guild. Some looked my way, but my aura made them keep their mouths shut.

…

_Gajeel…_

"I know you kids don't like it, but my decision is final… After all, I cannot call myself a guild master if I ignore my duty to help point the next generation onto the right path should they stray." The short old guy said, as everyone who had their panties in a twist calmed down some. Titania more so that the rest. "So why don't you give him a shot. He might be a nice guy… At least, Icelynn seems to think there is…" He trailed off at the end.

"I do not like it, but as a member of this guild, I will respect your decision. However, it's only fair to warn you that I _will_ be keeping a close eye on him" she warned, as she threw me a stiff glare.

"Fine." I heard the old man agree, as I continued to stand toe to toe with the Salamander. After one more growl, he snorted at me, and stormed off, shouting _whatever_…

Once he was gone, I moved to sit down, but stopped when the lights went out. The next thing I know, a curtain is drawn back to show the demon woman, Mirajane with a guitar and microphone.

Seeing this gave me a good idea to annoy people…

…

_Icelynn…_

After I stormed out of the guild hall, I found myself in front of the very tree that iron jack ass had pinned me to. Grumbling to myself, I climbed up to my favorite tree branch, and sat down with my back facing the trunk of the tree.

Honestly, I don't know why I'm here, or why I do anymore. Especially after when was done to me here on this very tree. Looking out across the town, I could see the top roof of the new guild hall. Seeing it brought back all of my frustration…

Scowling at the guild hall, I reached into one of my vest pocket, and pulled out a folded piece of clean paper, and a pen I always keep on me. Smoothing the paper over my thigh, I began to write…

_Dear Storm,_

_ I hope you're doing well… I am, for the most part. Lucy came back today, which as you know, I've been dreading since Gajeel joined the guild hall. Thankfully, she didn't summon Aquarius on me. She didn't even get mad at me. Which makes me out to be the silly one for thinking that in the first place…_

_ So I went from anxious, to pissed off. _

_ Not because of Lucy, but that iron block head of a dragon slayer, Gajeel. I know it's really silly to be upset over what he said, but I find that I can't help it. He said that he hated the guild and everyone in it. I would have thought that he would have been at least grateful enough to not say something like that. After all, I did give him another chance, and he claims to hate me._

_ Well, he didn't say me directly, but he did say everyone in the guild, so it's close enough._

_ I guess it upsets me a lot because I know deep down that he's really a good person. Not to mention what he was willing to do to himself in self-punishment for what he's done to others._

_ For allowing himself to be mind-controlled by Jose…_

_ And Storm, do dragons feel the need to gravitate towards their own kind, or is it just something dragon slayers feel because we're part human?_

I would have written more, but a sudden loud _screeching noise_ had me looking towards the guild hall. Using my sensitive hearing, I turned in to that direction, only for my ears to hear what sounded like bad singing, and then the start of a brawl.

I was even sure I heard Erza screaming _how dare you destroy my strawberry cake?_ at someone. Rolling my eyes, I folded up my unfinished letter, and stuff it and the pen back in my vest pocket. Thinking back to what I had just written, I felt my side throb in a reminder.

Lifting the side of my shirt up, I ran my fingers over the newly formed scar. A scar that would always remind me that I had come closer to death than all the other times combined. When I passed out, I nearly died in my sister's arms from blood loss. Later on, Lucy told me what had happened…

Apparently, they had to cauterize my wound to stop the bleeding. To do this, Gajeel had made a thin piece of iron, and handed it to Natsu, who heated it up as hot as he could before he, Gajeel, and Elfman; who just found us with Gray and Mira, held me down while the burned the wound shut.

As I was lost in my thoughts, time passed. And it wasn't until I caught the scent of iron on the wind that I looked down at the base of the tree.

At the trunk stood Levy, who hid slightly behind it. In front of her were Jet and Droy, both of which kept fixed glares straight ahead at Gajeel, who was walking towards them with a blank expression. Something told me that things were about to get ugly, but I stayed my hand. This was a perfect test to see if Gajeel really meant what he said back at the guild hall. And I was in a perfect position to step in should things take a turn for the worst…

"So what's the deal?" Gajeel asked, as he stopped a few feet in front of Jet and Droy. "Why did you ask me to meet you here? Make it fast, I've got work to do…"

"We've got a bone to pick with you." Jet said, as Droy widened his stance.

"After what you did to us, there's no way we can accept you into the guild." Droy agreed, as he tossed fuel on the fire.

"Come on guys, can't you just forgive and forget everything." Gajeel said, his expressionless mask still in place, and what that _regret_ I picked up in his scent, as he glanced around at them. The scent became worse when he glanced at Levy. Which I could see. She was so cute and adorable, the devil would feel bad for hurting her…

"Jet, Droy, maybe he's right…" Levy said, as she stepped out from the tree she was hiding behind. "Now that he's in the guild, I'm pretty sure he won't do that again." She said, as she tried to get her two team mates to back down.

I couldn't help but smile at this… If he could get Levy to forgive him for that, then he had a chance to gain forgiveness from the rest with time.

_At least I hope so…_ I thought as I glanced at the unforgiving faces of Jet and Droy. Hard headed fools…

"But we gotta let him know…" Jet began, as he summoned one of his speed spells.

"That he can't push us around." Droy said, as he pulled out some of his magic seeds.

At this, I saw Gajeel smile at them. For a moment, I thought that he was about to hurt them, but in his scent I felt pride? Scenting this, I took a closer look at his expression. He felt pride and respect for them for getting him back for what they did to him. And an aura of peace started to settle over him.

A second later, Jet and Droy attacked, but Gajeel made no move to stop, or fight back. The most he did was defend himself from major injury.

If only I could feel the same way Gajeel did about this situation. After a few more attacks, I jumped from my spot, and froze Droy's plants in place, and caught Jet's ankle, and threw him into Droy.

Blinking in confusion, Jet jumped up off of Droy, and looked at me in shock that quickly turned into rage.

"Why are you stopping us, Lace?" Jet demanded, as he called me by my last name.

"Yeah… If anything, you should be helping us! He was worse on you than us!" Droy agreed, as he jumped to his feet as well, as Jet moved to lunge past me.

"Back the fuck off Jet…" I said in a dangerous voice, to which Jet paused. "I'm stopping you idiots because you're acting like teenage boys with too many hormones screaming at you to fight."

Droy grit his teeth, as Jet's glare returned to his face.

"Just get out of the way, Lace." He demanded, to which I crossed my arms over my chest.

"No… And Gajeel's right… You should just forgive and forget it. And if you can't, then I'm to blame for him being here." I revealed, as Levy, Jet, and Droy gave me confused stairs.

"What are you talking about Icelynn?" Levy asked.

"Master Makarov asked me if I thought he should let Gajeel join, and I agreed that he should… And besides I forgive him completely." I said, as I looked over my shoulder at Gajeel, who looked in a random direction.

"How could you do that?" Jet demanded.

However, before I could reply, a new voice that I had yet to punch the daylights out of reached us.

"You're not giving the new guy a hard time are you?" Laxus asked us, as he walked over. Seeing him here set off all my instincts into alarm mode. From the look in his eyes, I could tell that he wasn't here to gloat or talk around. He was here to confirm, and possibly act upon something…

"Laxus." Jet said in shock.

He stood a few feet away, with his arms crossed over his chest, as he looked down at us. Not to mention the feel of electricity in the air, which made everything even tenser.

"But seeing as this is the punk that tore down the old guild hall, I can understand how you feel." He said, as she began to walk closer towards Gajeel, who had landed a few yards behind me. "I bet the old geezer let you join because he was scared of you wrecking the place again… How you got the ice chick on your side is still a mystery to me. From the impression I got when I refused to help a guild that should have been alright, said that she wasn't afraid of me, or your guild." He continued, as he kept his eyes fixed on Gajeel.

At this, Gajeel got an uneasy look, but remained where he was standing.

"We became the laughing stock of the magic community because of you!" Laxus said, as he got a crazed, power hungry look on his face. "On my way back from my last job, I stopped at a few pubs, and I heard some things that really pissed me off… Everyone was talking about how weak the Fairy Tail guild is now. No one would dare to say shit like that before _you_ came along!" he shouted, as yellow electricity started dancing around his form, before he attacked Gajeel with a huge blast of it.

Seeing this, I felt a growl leave my throat.

When Laxus when to hit him with an even bigger attack, I used my ice dragon slayer magic to blast Gajeel out of the way, and to create something the lightening magic would be naturally drawn to. As it struck, I felt my body convulse as part of the listening came back to bit me.

"You know what pisses me off?" I asked, a growl punctuating each word. "Assholes who think they're better than anyone else just because they have some power, and that a guild should be handed to you because of it… I GET PISSED OFF AT ASSHOLES LIKE YOU!" I shouted at him, to which he smirked at me, before throwing a blast towards me.

This blast was bigger than the one he threw at Gajeel, and it would hit not only me, but Levy, Jet, and Droy behind me. Leaving me with the cruel choice of both dodging and letting the three behind me take the fatal hit, or take the hit on myself.

Not wanting anything bad to happen to Levy, who I had failed to protect before, I moved to form an ice shield. Only to pull up short when I realized someone had stepped in the blasts path, and took the hit for me. A hit I wouldn't have been able to stop on my own in time…

Looking up, I saw Gajeel holding his arm, which he had turned into that iron club thing of his. Looking at the yellow red spot on his iron arm, I could see that if Gajeel hadn't have stepped in, I would have been dead; because that bold of lightening would have hit me in the chest right over where my heart was.

"Gajeel…" I sputtered, as he turned his arm back to normal and lowered it.

"If this is all, then I have to go. I've got shit to do." He said, his face and voice sounding neutral, as he turned and walked off.

"Are you alright Gajeel?" Levy called after him, as she came up to stand beside me. All traces of fear of him gone.

"Just leave me be." Was all he said, as he walked out of site?

"Tc." I heard Laxus say, as I watched out of the corner of my eye as he turned and stormed off. Once he too was gone, I turned and looked back towards the direction Gajeel waked off in.

Thinking over the way he protected me and the other three, I couldn't help but feel my face getting warm from blushing…

Shaking my head at the absurd thought, I turned back to Levy and her team.

"You three alright?" I asked them, to which they nodded. "Good… But I should beat the two of you for dragging him out here like this! He's trying to be a better person, and yet you two had to come out here and do something that makes you look just as bad as when he pinned our asses to that tree. Hell, did you even notice that he WASN'T FIGHTING BACK?" I said, pointing at the tree itself.

Droy looked down in shame, while Jet had a disbelieving look on his face.

"I didn't realize it until Laxus showed up." Jet said, as he looked over at me. "But why do you act like you know him like that Icelynn? He did the same thing to you, and more." He asked.

Sighing in annoyance, I turned to fully face him.

"I'm not saying that I _know _him, but what he's been through in a sense. Jet, I could have _been_ him had certain circumstances had not come to pass. I dare even say, I was once worse than Gajeel." I answered honestly, as I thought back to my days before Jude Heartfilia took me in.

At this, Jet could only blink at me in shock, before thankfully backing down. Finally seeing that they were in the wrong for once, they turned and left. Levy said a quick thanks and goodbye before following after them.

…

_ Storm, knowing the conditions of my birth and heritage, I know what it means to be a dragon slayer, and protect what's close to me. So what is this feeling that feels like more than that towards this dragon slayer?_

_ For once in my life, I was protected, instead of the one protecting by someone other than you…_

_ I take back what I said, I'm not frustrated or hurt by what he said. After all, not only was it said in self-defense, but he also has many scars on his heart. Scars only someone who has been where he's been could understand…_

…

The rest of the day went by in a blur. I went back to the guild hall for a while, and helped Mirajane fix some of the things that were broken in the brawl earlier. Once we were done, the sun had just started to set on the horizon. Grabbing Lucy, we went home for the night.

"It's so good to be back home!" Lucy squealed, before saying something about a bath, and summoning her dog spirit Plue.

Shaking my head at her antics, I headed for the kitchen to start dinner. Thankfully, I knew that extra food was needed when I heard Lucy freaking out over Natsu sleeping in her bed again, and demanding why I couldn't sense him when we got home.

"Relax Luce... I didn't say anything because Natsu looked like he wasn't feeling too well earlier." I said, as Lucy looked over at me with a question mark above her head.

"How can you tell that?" She asked me, as she glanced back at Natsu.

"Easy... He didn't smell Gajeel at the guild the second he walked through the door, and he backed down earlier despite Gajeel being right in front of him. Did he catch a bug on your mission or something?" I answered her, as Happy, crawled out from under the blankets next to Natsu, and reached for the white scarf Lucy held in her hand when she tried to drag Natsu out of her bed.

"He ate Ethrnano..." Happy said, as I blinked at him, then at Natsu in shock. The idiot could have killed himself doing that. Eating ethernano is like eating poison for wizards, and all because it contains all the properties of every type of magic out there. "And give that back you meanie! That scarf is important to Natsu! It was a gift from Igneel." He said, as Lucy handed it back to him, as he then put it back around Natsu's neck.

"Really? I didn't know it was that important to him. It's kind of like your necklace, isn't it Icelynn?" Lucy asked, as I reached down, and held it tight against my chest.

"Yeah..." I agreed, as I finished dinner.

Lucy, Happy, and I ate dinner as Natsu continued to sleep off the effects of the ethernano in his system. When dinner was over, I took a quick peek at the calendar over Lucy's bed. Three days from now was circled in red.

"Hey Luce, how much money did you make off of your last mission?" I asked her, as she calculated it all up.

"1, 000 jewel... Why?" she asked grimly, as she looked up from gathering the dishes.

"Because rent is due in three days." I said, as Lucy nearly dropped the plates on the floor.

"Oh crap! And there won't be any jobs available for the next day or so either because of the fantasia festival! What are we gonna do?" she said nearly freaking out.

"Cool it Lucy... I have 69,000 saved up. We'll be broke after that, but we should be fine as long as we take a mission right after the fantasia festival." I said, as she calmed down.

"Okay..." she said, just as Happy remembered something, and pulled a flier out of his green thing.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about this... It's the whole reason why Natsu and I came over in the first place." He said, as Lucy took it from him.

"Okay, how is this supposed to help our rent?" Lucy asked, as she turned it to face Happy and I.

"Check out the bottom of the page." Happy said, as he pointed to a specific part of it.

_MISS FAIRY TAIL CONTEST_

_J500, 000_

"Miss Fairy Tail contest?" Lucy asked, as she looked up at Happy.

"Aye!" he said, as he looked proud of himself. "And as you can see, the winner gets 500,000 jewel."

At this, Lucy got a really hopeful look.

"Even though Kana, Erza, and Mira are entering it too, I still think you have a shot." Happy said, as her look immediately deflated.

A second later, she trains her puppy dog eyes on me.

"Hell no." I said, before she could even ask.

"PLEASE ICE! IF YOU ENTER, WE'LL HAVE TWICE AS MUCH OF A CHANCE OF WINNING! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD STAND A CHANCE AGAINST THE OTHER GIRLS OF THE GUILD!" Lucy pleaded, as she latched on to my waist. "_Pease_..." She said, as she looked up at me with tearful eyes.

I wanted to tell her to forget it, but those tearful eyes...

"You'll owe me a _spiked _raspberry smoothie." I said, agreeing to it. To which Lucy's eyes became suspiciously dry, and she put me into a bear hug. God only knew how much I was going to need it.

"Well then, I'm off to check on things at home. Tell Natsu I'll meet him at the guild tomorrow." Happy said, as he flew out the open window. Leaving a really happy Lucy, and me with a _save me _look.

The rest of that night, Lucy had some of her spirits out, and practicing some cheering routines.

…...

_The Next Day at the Guild Hall..._

_Icelynn..._

It was hard not to laugh at Natsu. Poor guy was so low on energy and hunger, that he resembled a zombie shuffling around looking for brains. Behind him besides me, was Lucy, Gray, and Juvia

"Natsu still doesn't feel better huh?" Lucy said, as she watched him walk along slowly. Moaning about finding food, and eating everything in sight.

"He'll be fine when he eats, trust me." Gray said, as he and Juvia followed my gaze.

"He does look rather ill, doesn't he?" Juvia agreed.

We were then pulled from any further conversation by a new voice. One that Gray happened to be familiar with.

"You haven't changed a bit Gray." a guy with short black hair said, as we turned to face him.

"Warren!" Gray said, as he recognized him. "It's been a while.

"Yeah... I didn't think I would make it back in time for the festival, but here I am." Warren said, as he and Gray grinned at each other.

"Oh yeah... Warren, this is Juvia, Icelynn, and her sister Lucy." Gray said, as he introduced each of us before pointing his thumb back at Warren. "This guy takes on so many jobs that we hardly ever see him.

"Wow..." Lucy said, as Juvia walked forward and shook hands with him.

"It's really nice to meet you." Warren said.

"No, the pleasure is all mine." Juvia said in a friendly manner, as she then looked at the sights and smells of the festival bustling around us. "This festival is quite a sight." she commented.

"No kidding, there are a lot of people here." I said, as I glanced around at all kinds of people.

"It's a pretty big deal. A lot of people come from miles around just to see the Fantasia Parade." Warren explained.

"I can't wait to see it." Lucy said, with a smile on her face, to which Gray poked her on the cheek.

"You're _in_ the parade, remember?" Gray reminded, as a look of realization dawned over her face. A look I had hoped I wouldn't see.

"Wasn't there something else I was supposed to be in with Icelynn?" Lucy asked herself out loud, before the answer snapped to her mind. "The Miss Fairy Tail Contest... MY RENT MONEY!" Lucy shouted, as she snagged me by the wrist, and practically dragged me to the main guild hall.

I'm really going to need a drink by the end of this... I can only hope that Kana doesn't mind a drinking buddy...

Lucy and I barely made it to the signup sheet before the whole damn thing started, but we made it. I was second to last, and Lucy would be the last. We were given fifteen minutes to get the things we needed ready. Which I found a big waste, because I was ready in five.

Reaching the back of the stage, I took one look at the others there. I spotted Levy, Erza, Mirajane, Bisca Mulan, Juvia, and Lucy. Upon seeing me Lucy jumped up on me.

"Oh... Isn't this exciting!" she squeaked at me.

"Just kill me now..." I muttered quite loudly in sarcasm, as Lucy ignored me completely before taking her place back behind me.

A few minutes later, the contest began.

…...

_Gajeel..._

I really didn't know why I even bothered to come to this dang festival. I had thought that it might be a good opportunity to see how the members were doing, and for them to get use to me. Hell, I had even found myself hoping that the Ice Fairy might even stop by and talk to me.

_Damn it, Gajeel! Stop it!_ I mentally shouted at myself. I shouldn't even be considering being friends with the Ice Fairy. Deep down, she just had to hate me.

_I've forgiven him for it..._

I paused as those words went right through my mind again, along with the image of the look she gave me when she said it. It was easy to see in those deep cobalt blue eyes that she meant every word.

Then I felt the guilt of what I had said hit me. That's right, I was hoping she would stop and talk to me again so I could apologize.

Apologize...

What a weird word coming out of my mouth. Back in my Phantom Lord days, an apology never came out of me, but the ones around me. Now here I was, about to give one, and I'm not even sure how the damn thing really works...

Do you say it right away? Or do you work the conversation that way? It was all really confusing...

Getting hungry, I decided to head to the guild hall to grab some food, and some iron to eat. Upon arriving, I blinked at the very crowded guild hall. Thankfully though, the crowd was around the stage, and not the bar. Sitting down, I looked around for the she demon who wasn't there. Looking back up at the stage, I spotted a banner that answered my question.

"Miss Fairy Tail contest... Is that where she went?" I asked myself out loud, as a guild member walked out on stage with a microphone in his hand.

"The long wait is finally over Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the one and only Miss Fairy Tail contest, where your favorite fairies fight in a battle of beauty! I'm Max Alors, sand wizard extraordinaire, and I'll be your host for this exciting event!" He said, as a roar of cheers met his words before he continued.

"Now let's meet entry number 1... The exotic beauty who will drink you under the table any day of the week: Kana Alberona" he said, as the normally drunk card magic woman walked out, and used her cards to create a screen of light to change into a swim suit. To which I could only roll my eyes at.

"On to entry number 2! She may be new to the guild, but her magic is S class!" he began, as he looked around at everyone there, as I could only stare blankly at him. If I didn't know any better, then I'd swear he was about to call Juvia out. "She is a radiant beauty in rain or shine: Juvia Lockser!" Damn, I hated being right...

Juvia walked out, and turned her body into water, slid a swim suit on into place before reforming herself back to normal.

"Next is entry number 3! Fairy Tail's famous center fold!" Max shouted, as I figured out who was next. "Her beauty has stolen the hearts of men and women all across the land! Mirajane!" he shouted, as people in the crowd started shouting, and whistling.

The she demon, who I had once been told used some powerful take over magic, but due to some unknown reason, she can no longer use it. Using the limited bit she had, she turned her face into several different ones. However, her _scary_ face actually had me looking at her in shock. Mostly because _my_ face was the one used for it.

Shaking my head at the absurdness of it, I continued to see who else was into this kind of thing.

"Entry number 4! The Fairy Queen who needs no introduction!" Max shouted, as Titania jumped up, and landed in the middle of the stage. "Erza Scarlet!"

At first, I had thought that she was going to do that re quip thing into a swim suit, however I was wrong when she changed into a strange looking outfit. I heard Blondie back stage squealing something about someone, but ignored it for boredom...

Turning to look and see what was behind the counter, I spotted some iron scraps the she demon started keeping after I became a member. Reaching back there, I grabbed a piece, as Max called out the Shrimp, and then a green headed woman with a gun. Finishing off the piece I had, I reached for another, but paused the second I smelled fresh fallen snow.

This had me looking back up at the stage...

"Now here's entry number 7! She's also fairly new to the guild, but watch out because she's as fierce as a dragon, and as cold as an Ice Queen! Let's hear it for our resident Ice Dragon Slayer! Icelynn Lace!" He shouts before the Ice Fairy walks up on stage with a bored look on her face.

Everyone went real quiet to see what she'd do.

Holding her hands together, she made a thin sheet of ice around her body, and after a few seconds of silence, delicate swirling patters started cracking from the ice, to make swirling designs on the floor. A second later, the sound of a soft dragon's roar could be heard before the ice flaked off of the Ice Fairy, falling like snow from her. When the Ice was gone, she wore an ice blue swim suit, with her hair tied up. And her eyes were a gentle light blue, as her dragon eyes showed.

Looking out at the crowd, she flashed a fanged bad girl grin before turning, and sauntering off of the stage.

However, before she got completely off the stage, I spotted a jagged scar on her side. The scar she got from half of the Jupiter canon blast she took with the Titania… The she demon had told me that if she hadn't taken a stand with Erza, then everyone would be dead right now…

Seeing Icelynn like that made me feel warmer than normal. And a few seconds later, I felt something warm and thick running down from my nose. Wiping it away, I looked down to see that it was blood.

I was snapped out of this, when I heard the Ice Fairy threaten her sister to never force her to do something like that again.

When Icelynn's sister was called, I found myself mentally ogling Icelynn in that damn swim suit again. The way she looked just screamed out a dare to try and take a bite out of her, and in that moment, I had wanted to do just that.

Mentally slapping myself, I turned my attention back to eating iron. She was just a fairy stupid enough to forgive and try to befriend a guy that she barely knows who hurt her terribly. I had no right to look at her like that, nor to think of her in such a way...

Especially after the war I took a part in that caused that scar on her side…

_But she __forgave__ you..._ I heard my guilt tripping side say, as I grumbled under my breath, and went to start a mental war with myself. However, before I could, something happened. I could feel it in my gut that things were about to get hairy.

Knowing that my gut is normally right, I crept back behind the bar, and started silently eating all the iron I could get my hands on as I watched.

Some weird woman in all green walked out on stage as Blondie was up there about to do her magic.

"Entry number 9." the green woman said, as she removed the green fan from her face. Really, what was up with her and the color green anyway?

"I am the very definition of _Fairy_." she stared, as she slowly walked towards Blondie. "Not to mention the very definition of _beauty_... And I'm the only woman here that embodies _everything_ that men desire. Therefore, the winner is... Me... The lovely Evergreen!" she said, as she smiled out at the crowd who were giving her the _Damn, you're rude _look.

"Now this idiotic contest can end." _Evergreen_ said, as Lucy looked at her in shock and anger.

"When did she get back?" I heard the ice stripper ask the big white haired guy next to him.

"I don't know, but if she's here, then so is Laxus." he answered back, as I raised an eyebrow. So I was about to see Sparky again, huh?

"Come on! I really need this money for rent!" Blondie started to complain, when the ice stripper started making his way towards the stage.

"Lucy! Don't look her in the eye!" he shouted, but was too late as the green lady pulled down her glasses, and then Lucy turned to stone.

"This is bad... Everyone! Get out of here now!" Max shouted, as people began spilling out of the guild hall. Thankfully, I was behind the bar, and didn't have to worry about getting run over. However, once they were gone, I peered back at the stage. That green woman just turned Blondie to stone, so where is the Ice Fairy? When I went after those two, she raised all kinds of hell...

My question was answered a second later, when the curtain rose behind the green woman and Blondie.

"What do you think you're doing Evergreen? You'll ruin the festival for everyone!" Master Makarov scolded her, as she chuckled down at him.

When the curtain was up, I had to bite back the growl that rose up in my throat. Back stage stood all of the contest participants. All of them had been turned to stone, even Icelynn. She had been caught looking over her shoulder, and her eyes were wide, like she had figured out what was going to happen a second before it did, but was powerless to correct her mistake. The rest of them just looked shocked.

A second later, a bright yellow flash of lightening that had me tensing up for the shock that never came, lit up the room. When it cleared, there stood that bastard from yesterday.

"Looks like all your fans decided to head home..." he said, as he stood up straight. "Pity, because the party is just about to start."

"I should have known you'd do something like this." Makarov said, as he glared up at his grandson.

"Freed." I heard the Ice stripper say, as he looked at a green haired man. "Bixlow..." he said, looking at a weird guy that wore something that screamed nightmare before Christmas-ish...

"It's the whole Thunder Legion." I heard the big guy next to the ice stripper say.

So that was his team, huh?

"Come on! Let's have some fun!" Laxus said then, as he smirked down at his grandfather.

"I've had quite enough of this Laxus... Turn them back or else!" the old guy threatened, to which Laxus only smiled wider.

"You better play nice if you want these ladies in the parade." Laxus said, as he shot a random lightning bolt at the stone statue of Blondie. Narrowly missing her, yet had enough force to shatter her to pieces. It was a moment that made everyone flinch.

"No! Stop!" Makarov said, as Laxus cut it out, and threw an arm around the stone Blondie instead.

"In other words, I'm taking all of them hostage." Laxus said, as I felt a growl of anger slip at that. "Break the rules, and I'll shatter these chicks one by one... Though I might keep the female dragon slayer as a pet." he warned, as he reconsidered destroying Icelynn.

"Or I could just smash them all right now..." He continued before being cut off by Makarov.

"I'm not amused Laxus. Stop fooling around!" Makarov ordered him.

"I'm serious old man." Sparky said, ignoring him, as a guy with long green hair jumped down next to him.

"I've always been curious as to who is the strongest in the guild." He said, agreeing with what Sparky was doing.

"This is going to be fun." Said another weird looking dude that let his tongue hang out in a disgusting way. And what was with those toys behind him, echoing what he is saying?

"There's only one rule… The last one standing is the winner." Sparky said, brining what they were doing up to speed.

"Nice and simple…" Salamander said, as he lit up his hand, and punched his other one to put it out. "Just how I like it! I'm all fired up now." He said. And for once, I was glad he was better than the sick way he looked earlier. After all, what he can do might come in handy later…

"Glad you could see it my way… If anything, you've got the right attitude." Sparky said with a smirk as he looked at the Salamander. Seeing it, Salamander ignored all of the warnings the people around him were throwing at him, and ran at Sparky. "On the other hand, that attitude is going to get you in a world of hurt… So why don't you sit back down?' Sparky shouted, before zapping the freaking shit out of the Salamander, who was out cold the next second.

I couldn't help but wince as I watched this. That lightning bolt isn't anything to play around with…

"Naturally, if you want the girls turned back to normal, you're going to have to defeat us first." The green chick said, now that the Salamander was down for the moment. "You have three hours, and not a second more. If you run out of time, all of these pretty statues will be rendered into dust." She said, as they slapped a time limit on us.

Damn… I was going to have to eat the dishes to make sure I was at full strength. Eh… I can always make more later on when everything is over…

"All of Magnolia will be your battle field. The fight will begin when and if you find us." Sparky said, as Makarov fixed him under a pissed off gaze.

"Laxus, how could you?" Makarov said, before going into his giant form. "I WON'T STAND FOR THIS!" He shouted, as electricity started dancing around Sparky.

"Simmer down old man! It's all part of the festival right?" Sparky shouted, as he turned himself into a very bright lightning bolt, and disappeared along with his Thunder Buddies.

A few minutes of shocked silence went about the room before the guys in the guild began saying that they had to save the girls. They all charged out of the guild hall when the big, white headed guy said something about manning up, and going to save them.

_Idiots… Don't they know that there could be traps set up all around the place? If Magnolia is the battle field, I'm sure they've done something so we'd be played right into their hands…_ I couldn't help but think, as my gaze went back over to the Ice Fairy.

In that second, I knew that I would help them out. If not for anything else, then it would be to pay her back for forgiving me like she did. Not to mention, that since that day Sparky nearly killed her, I've felt protective towards her for some reason. I didn't know why, and only because I knew she was strong. Maybe, one day, I'll find out…

Waiting until everyone had run past, I looked over the counter top in time to see Makarov run face first into an invisible wall. The Ice Stripper tried to pull him across it, but stopped the second some purple writing appeared above them.

It said:

_Those who are over 80, or made of stone shall not pass._

Okay… So that ruled the old man out. Just as I was about to turn back to eating, I heard Natsu get up, and shout something about kicking Sparky's ass, and made to run out the door. Only for him to crash into the invisible wall.

This had me arching a studded eyebrow. Natsu didn't look over 80, nor was he made out of stone…

Deep down, I hoped there wasn't a hidden enchantment to keep dragon slayers in. If so, then we're screwed…

…

Next Chapter: Chapter 8 – Thunder Palace; Laxus a Dragon Slayer?

…

Okay, just a heads up to keep people from being confused, here is a current time line of the events that have shaped Icelynn that we already know in the story…

Age 4 – Age 13: Raised and trained in the art of Dragon Slayer Magic by the Ice Dragon, Storm.

July 7, X777; Age 13: Storm disappears along with other dragons. Icelynn is left on her own.

After July 7, X777; Age 13 – Age 15: Icelynn lives on the streets in a not so nice life style.

October 31, X779; Age 15: Icelynn is taken in by the Heartfilia family, and sense of morals are regained.

Year X784: Icelynn Lace, member of Fairy Tail.

Sorry if it's off by a year or two, I'm just going by what I know. Icelynn is about 20, so when Storm left, she was 13, and things escalated from there…

Anyway, there's starting to be some strange feelings between Gajeel and Icelynn. And better yet, how is she going to handle getting back at Laxus for turning her into stone? See ya for the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy!

Thanks!

Bugg18.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Thunder Palace

_Icelynn_...

After a few minutes of that jerk, Laxus spouting his mouth off about the rules for his ridiculous game he was forcing the guild to play, I started pushing my magic energy through the weak points of the thin layer of ice I had covered myself in when that green diva want to be, tried to turn me into stone. Thankfully, my little trick only caused me to be covered in stone, and not turned into it.

While I secretly worked to free myself, I listened closely to the world outside.

From what I could hear, I discovered that everyone who hadn't been turned into stone had left the guild already. And that a rune barrier written by Freed was keeping Gramps trapped in the guild hall. A few minutes later, I soon discovered that Natsu was trapped in the guild hall as well. Which I found strange.

I heard Gray and Gramps talking about the barrier before Gray ran off to hunt Laxus down. Anyone who was a stone statue, or eighty and above couldn't pass through the barrier.

My thoughts were then interrupted when I felt a huge crack break the stone. Mentally smirking in my triumph, I forced the crack to get bigger, until I shattered it and the ice off of my body. Once I was free, I took a deep breath of the room temperature air. I loved the cold, and the smell of ice and all, but not constantly. I do like the warmth every once in a while…

Even an ice mage like Gray does.

"Icelynn!" Gramps said in surprise, as he, Natsu, and Happy all looked at me in shock. "How in the blazes did you turn back from stone?" He demanded.

"I didn't turn myself back from stone. I just layered my body with a thin sheet of ice before the spell hit. So I was never turned to stone, but the stone covered my body." I said as I jumped from the stage to catch my breath. "And I heard everything Laxus said." I continued, as I glanced over my shoulder at Lucy's statue. She had been frozen in place with a confused look on her face. At least she didn't know what had hit her…

With that, I walked back to the bathroom and changed back into my normal clothes before I joined the others in the main guild hall.

"Good. I don't have to explain… I need you to get out there and find my grandson, and beat him!" Makarov said then, a look of pure fury in his eyes.

Looking from him to the barrier, I slowly walked up to it, and poked at the area where the barrier should be. And to the misfortune of all of us here, the barrier stopped my finger from leaving the guild hall.

"Interesting…" I said, as I poked the barrier a couple more times.

"Why can't you get out? You're not stone anymore! Don't tell me you're over eighty too!" Natsu shouted as he freaked out. Which I swiftly ended with a smack to the back of his head, that was now forming a knot.

"I don't think it has anything to do with being stone or eighty… It's possible this Freed hid a rule in his enchantment that would keep dragon slayers in also." I explained, as I turned to look back at Natsu and Gramps.

A small noise then had us looking up to see words forming on the barrier.

"Battle of Fairy Tail Status Report…" I read.

"What!?" Gramps exclaimed before walking to stand beside me to continue reading it. "It says: Jet vs Droy vs Alzack…"

"I don't understand why those guys would be fighting each other." Natsu said in confusion.

I felt a growl leave my throat as I thought everything over. From the interruption of the contest by Evergreen, who turned everyone including myself, into statues; to Laxus who declared the start of a _Fairy Tail Battle Royal_e, and on to this…? Members fighting members.

There was only one reason he would do this.

"He couldn't have…" I muttered as it all became clearer. "That clever bastard!" I snarled out, as I felt like a fool.

"Jet vs Droy vs Alzack… Fight completed… Winner is Alzack… Jet and Droy Knocked out." Gramps said, as the text floating in the door way updated from the conclusion of the three way fight.

A second later, Happy was reading off more updates.

"He's weeding out as many of the members after him, as well as the weaker members. All by pitting them against each other… Laxus is toying with us!" I snarled out, as my vison became sharper. My eyes had turned blue once again.

"Time remaining: two hours and eighteen minutes… Number of participants remaining 43…" Happy read off, as a time update was posted.

I felt my growl get louder as Happy looked over at me nervously, while Natsu just glanced at me, and then back to the enchantment.

"That can't be all that's left… That means more than half the guild has been wiped out in less than an hour." Makarov said in slight despair. Not that I could blame him. He considered all of us his children, and here we were beating the shit out of each other to save other friends from being killed.

I heard Natsu say a couple of times already that Laxus is just bluffing. That there was no way he would hurt anyone from the guild. If only Natsu could get it through is thick skull that Laxus is willing to do just that. Maybe even kill for it…

"If only Levy weren't a stone statue, then we'd be able to get out of here and hunt that lightening jack ass down." I growled under my breath, as I glanced over at Levy.

"Evergreen vs Elfman… The winner is Evergreen… Freed vs Ridus… The winner is Freed…" Happy read off then, as Gramps' eyes widened in shock. "The Thunder Legion is really making their move." Happy said, as he landed on Natsu's shoulder.

"Damn it! Now we can't get Porlyusica's help! And times running out!" I cursed, as I banged my fists against the barrier in frustration.

"We don't need Porlyusica's help… Laxus is bluffing." Natsu said again, as I glared over at him.

"Natsu-"I began, only to be interrupted by the last person I wanted to see at that moment.

"I'm just bluffing am I?" Laxus said, as he appeared in a thought projection from wherever the bastard was hiding.

"You…" I snarled in warning as he looked over at me with an arched eyebrow.

"Me? What about you? I didn't think that there was anyone who could break out of Evergreen's spell." Laxus said, before he turned to Natsu. "Speaking of which… Natsu… What are you doing holed up in this dump? You scared?" he teased.

"I'm not scared! I'm just stuck!" Natsu shouted back with a blush on his face.

"What do you want?" Gramps asked him, ignoring Natsu.

"How does it feel huh? You think of the members of this guild as your children, right? How does it feel to watch all of your kiddies tear each other apart?" Laxus asked him, as he smirked down at his grandfather. "It's a shame Natsu and Erza can't join in. It must suck to know that the only two who are strong enough to beat me can't stop me… Icelynn would have a chance, but she's stuck as well." Laxus said, as he glanced over at me as well.

"You ready to throw in the towel?" He asked Gramps then, as Gramps looked out the door.

"Gray's still out there. And He's every bit as strong as Natsu." I said, as Gramps and Happy looked at me with realization, Laxus with a _yeah right_ smirk, and Natsu in offense.

"There's no way!" he shouted, as he threw a flamed fist at me. Catching it, I covered his hand with ice, and tossed him back.

"Shut up Natsu. I know you two don't get along, but it's kind of natural between fire and ice." I said, as Natsu shut himself up with a huff.

"Gray huh? You're going to put all your hopes on that looser." Laxus scoffed, as a new update hit the enchantment.

_Bixlow vs Gray… The winner is Gray…_

"Oh no." Happy said, as he looked up at it.

"Tch… I bet Bixlow lead Gray into an enchantment." I said, as I glared over at that stupid smirk I would love to wipe off of Laxus' face.

"Doesn't matter, because the loser's been knocked out." Laxus smirked down at me, as I threw an icy glare up at him. I swear it was cold enough to make the room drop a few degrees.

A second later, Laxus' smirk intensified.

"You know… the offer from when Phantom Lord attacked still stands… It'll be anything you want…" Laxus said, as he offered once again for me to become his woman.

"And I'll say it louder this time… _**NOT EVEN IF HELL FROZE OVER!**_" I roared at him, pouring enough of my magical energy into the roar that left my throat, makeing his thought projection waver a little, and nearly disappear before it stabilized.

"Have it your way then…" he said, as he turned to face his grandfather once more. "There's only twenty eight members left now… And that chump was going to save you!" Laxus laughed then.

…...

_Gajeel…_

I couldn't believe that jerk…

Really, he'd force a woman to become his to put a stop to all of this? Who did this guy think he was? Jeez, I wasn't nearly as bad as this guy during the war with Phantom Lord. At least I had the excuse of not being myself. Sure, there were times when I wasn't under mind control, but still. I had enough decency to give the people I hurt a choice on something like _that_.

And apparently, he had offered her the same choice before, with the way she responded to him. Which was kind of funny from any other perspective.

"Alright… Who's going to beat the Thunder Legion now old man?" Sparky asked Master Makarov, as I put my attention back on track.

"If he's not stuck in here, then Gajeel could do it…"

Hearing this, I felt my red eyes snap over to the Ice Fairy. To say I was shocked was an understatement. Everyone else in the guild would have forgotten about me. Hell, the Salamander, old man, and blue cat had all seemed to…

"I don't think so." Sparky said, as he looked back at the runes. "He's made it clear that he doesn't want to play. Which doesn't surprise me any. He could care less about what happens to the guild."

Well then, Sparky was smarter than I thought…

No, I didn't want to play. All I wanted was to smash his face in and settle the score from the other day. Not to mention the small part of me that wants to kick his ass for turning some of my guild mates to stone, but my Ice Fairy as well.

_Where the fuck did that come from!?_ I thought, as I caught what had just went through my mind. Since when did she become _my_ Ice Fairy? The answer was easy, she hadn't…

_The day she forgave us…_ A small part of my conscience whispered, as it answered my unwanted question.

Damn, I probably need to have my mental state checked out. Then again, my sanity dropped to near zero the second I joined this troublesome guild.

Either way, that was only half of his statement that was correct. He was mistaken if he thought that I couldn't care less what happened to the guild. If there isn't a guild with members, then I can't pay for what I did…

I know that I said I didn't, but that was to get everyone off of my ass. I just wish that Icelynn had seen it that way the other day…

"Enough." The gentle voice of the old man said, snapping me back into reality. "It isn't worth it… I surrender alright." Makarov said, as the Salamander and Ice Fairy looked at him in shock.

"Now stop this." He ordered, as Sparky smirked down at him.

"What's gotten into you? I thought you were the master of the number one guild in Fiore. You can't just give up at the drop of a hat." Laxus said, as his smirk got sickeningly wider. "But if you insist, then by all means, hand the guild over to me and take an early retirement." He said, as Makarov gaped at him in shock.

The silence that followed was thick. But thankfully, it didn't last long.

"Master Makarov…" I heard Icelynn begin, as her voice shook with a barely contained growl. "If you give in to this jack ass you call a grandson, then I nor Lucy will stay in the guild. And when we are no longer members, then I'm afraid that you'll be short a grandchild when I get done with him." She said in a low dangerous voice, as a dark look glazed over her eyes.

From where I sat, I saw the eyes of someone who has killed before. Is that what she had meant that day, about having to hurt others? Did she end up killing people back then?

In that single moment, I knew that she wouldn't hesitate. She'd actually do it given the chance.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed. The killing aura surrounded her like a second skin. Happy hid behind Natsu, who took a step back. Makarov had started to sweat slightly, but had a look of understanding in his eyes.

Sparky on the other hand, looked to be a bit nervous, but that was it.

I probably did too, but I wouldn't let it show. By all means, I would have killed her back in my old guild. It was no less than what I deserved if she decided to wind up killing me later…

"There's only an hour left before the statues crumble… If you really want it to stop, then all you have to do is announce your retirement over the guild's loud speaker to the whole town…" Sparky said, before turning his attention back to the Ice Fairy. "And Icelynn, who says you'll survive long enough to leave the guild alive?" he asked her, as she summoned her magic to one hand, and threw a blast of it at him.

Of course it went straight through Sparky's thought projection, and destroyed the table behind him. Thankfully though, it dispelled the damn thing.

"Forgive me Master… but Laxus isn't the right person to hand this guild over to. His mind is corrupted by a thirst for power… And besides, he's a coward for not facing you directly… Even more so for taking hostages…" the Ice Fairy said, as he looked towards her sister, as an edge of pain entered her fresh fallen snow scent.

It must be killing her to stand there, and not be able to do anything but watch the timer count down…

"It was never the title of master that I valued…" Makarov began, as Natsu suddenly looked panicked.

"Wait! You're just gonna give up?" He shouted, before Icelynn hit him upside the head.

"No… Icelynn was correct in saying that Laxus can't be trusted with the guild. It takes more than power to run a guild. He has neither the conviction, nor the heart to do it." Makarov said, as he looked out the door once more.

"Yeah, but we have to do something before the girls are turned to dust." The little blue cat said, as he floated around Natsu.

Looking at each of the statues, Icelynn then looked back at Natsu.

"You're right Happy… Natsu, I say we move them." She suggested, much to the confusion of the other three.

"I fail to see how moving the girls will help anything." Makarov said.

"Well, where they are right now, it would be easy for Laxus to turn them into dust. But if we move them, then we can buy them some time because his attacks would be harmless if they don't hit their marks. All because he won't know precisely where they are." The Ice Fairy said.

Thinking it over, Makarov looked from Icelynn to the girls.

"I can see your point. If anything, it could give us time to try and find a way to either break the spell, or the enchantment behind us so that someone can go and knock out Evergreen. With her out of the picture, then they should turn back to normal." Makarov finally agreed, as he turned into his titian form, and helped the other two move all of the statues.

Once they were moved, Icelynn set up a double ice barrier to try and keep Laxus' lightening away from them.

As I watched them work, I went back to eating whatever metal I could find. While I ate, I failed to notice that the room got quite before I felt four sets of eyes looking at me.

…...

_Icelynn…_

As we were moving back towards the front doors of the guild, I paused as I heard what sounded like someone eating metal. Hearing it also, Happy and Natsu stopped talking to look over toward where the noise was coming from. Which was the bar.

"Someone else is still here." Natsu said, as we all went over to see who it was. Soon as we reached the counter, we all froze in shock at what we saw.

Seeing as he had been caught, Gajeel stood from where he had been crouched down eating.

"No way! You were here the whole time!" Natsu said as he gaped at Gajeel.

"And he's eating the dishes too!" Happy said, as he noticed the least important thing he could…

Well, important to most of us anyway…

Ignoring the two idiots, Master Makarov walked forward.

"Gajeel… Will you fight for the guild?" He asked, as Natsu and Happy held their breaths. I don't see why they would let something that sparky jack ass get to them like that…

"Might as well." Gajeel said, as he vaulted over the bar. "I've got a score to settle with him anyway… And I get to pay two of the people I owe back by going up against him as well." He continued, as he walked towards the barrier.

"You might want to be careful! There's" I started, only to stop when Gajeel ran right into the barrier, but was able to remain standing unlike Natsu had.

Seeing this, the three standing next to me let out some comical screams, as I face palmed my hand. If only the idiot had stopped and listened to me, then I would have reminded him that dragon slayers couldn't pass through the barrier.

Glancing around the guild, I spotted a script pen behind the bar that Mira sometimes used. Grabbing it, I went to the enchantment, and wrote a rune that would reveal all rules; plain and hidden ones. And sure enough, an extra variable appeared with the enchantments requirements to be allowed to pass. It now read:

_Those who are over 80, made of stone, or possess a lost magic are not allowed to pass…_

"Damn it… Just what I was afraid of." I muttered under my breath.

"Well, that explains a lot." Happy agreed, as he read it too.

"Yes… But can you break it Icelynn?" Master Makarov asked me, as I shook my head no. Placing the pen where I had found it, tried to think up another plan. While I thought, some bad news appeared on the enchantment.

"What! Only three left in the guild!" Makarov shouted, as we all looked at the enchantment, and then at each other.

If there were only three left, then that means that there were only me, Natsu, and Gajeel who were left to fight. And we couldn't leave the guild hall.

Before we could really process this, Natsu surprised us.

"Man this sucks! Now I guess I'll have to bring Erza back." He said, as we all gaped at him.

"What do you mean _bring Erza back_?" Makarov demanded, as we watched Natsu melt a hole in my ice barrier, and pull Erza from the small group. Laying her flat on the ground, Natsu then lit his hand on fire as we gathered around.

"I was hoping that I'd have a chance to show her up, but it looks like I'm not going to be so lucky today." He explained, before he started lowering his hand to Erza's face.

"Natsu, be careful you idiot! She's not covered in stone like I was! She's actually made out of stone right now!" I shouted at him, only to be ignored. However, when a crack appeared on Erza's face, he began to panic.

"Oh shit! Where's the glue?" He shouted, as Gajeel walked up beside him.

"Shut up! Quick, we gotta use your fire, and my iron to weld her back together!" he shouted, not helping much.

Welding her back together was a good idea and all, but it could also kill Erza. Not to mention the gravestones we'd have to erect if she did live through it for the two idiots, because she'd kill their sorry asses…

However, a second later, the stone on Erza shattered right off, as it did with me earlier. As the last of the shards fell from her, we all blinked at her, and she back at us for a full minute before looking dead at Natsu.

"That was hot…" She said in surprise, before her look turned deadly. Everyone around me coward back, as I blinked at her in understanding. If Natsu had done that to me, then I would have done what Erza did next.

Kick Natsu's flame ass… I wouldn't have included Gajeel though…

Both landed in a heap on the floor near the door, as Master, Happy, and I all looked on with a blank look. Walking over, I knelt down beside the two of them, while Happy and Master Makarov filled Erza in.

"Are you two okay?" I asked them, only for Natsu's soul to start floating out of his mouth. Sighing heavily, I shoved the poor guy back in his flesh and blood.

"Never better…" Natsu said in a daze, once his spirit was back in.

"Did she have to hit me too!?" Gajeel grumbled, after shoving Natsu off of him, and placing a hand on his head.

"That's what happens when you stand too close to Natsu when he goes through with one of his crazy ideas…" I said with a small smirk, as Natsu shouted a _Hey_ in an offended voice.

"Icelynn used her magic to keep from turning into stone, but how did you get out Erza?" I heard Master Makarov ask her, as the three of us turned to the conversation happening behind us. And I had to admit that I was curious as to how she did it as well.

"I'm not sure…" Erza began, as she reached a hand up to cover one of her eyes. "But if I had to guess, then I'd say it had something to do with my right eye…" She said, as a dark look crossed her face for a minute.

Lucy had told me about the events in the Tower of Heaven, and the truth behind Erza's child hood. Could it have something to do with that? Shaking my head out of those thoughts, I turned back to the situation at hand.

"Anyway, if you're up to speed on what's going on, then it's time for us to strike back." Master said then, as he held up a determined fist.

A small sound had us looking back at the enchantment then. Instead of three members, it now showed four members now that Erza was up. What baffled me though, was when it suddenly showed five.

"It went up again?" Gajeel said, as he looked over his shoulder at the other statues.

"Who could it be?" Natsu asked then, as the rest of us glanced over at the statues too.

A second later, a look of realization dawned on Erza's face.

"Aren't we forgetting someone?" Erza asked, as a smirk crossed her face. "Someone who is frequently out of town?" she hinted, as Master then shared the same look of realization.

Thinking it over, I tried to place someone that was mentioned sometimes, but not here…

"Hold on! You don't mean _him?_" Natsu asked, finally getting it.

_Okay, if Natsu can get it, then something cool and weird must happen when this person shows up…_ I thought, as I tried to figure it out, only to still come up blank. And why was I having flash backs to that day everyone in the guild was put to sleep with a strange spell...?

"And he's back when we need him the most!" Master exclaimed then, hope returning to his eyes.

"Well… He's always been one for grand entrances." Erza agreed, as Gajeel took a step closer.

"Can someone fill me in over here? And the Ice Fairy? She doesn't look like she gets it either." Gajeel said, as he noticed my confused expression. Throwing him an incredulous look, I tried to fight down my blush of embarrassment at not know who they were talking about.

Lucy and I had been here a year, and I couldn't remember one of the well-known members…

"We're talking about one of the possible strongest wizards in Fairy Tail besides Laxus." Erza said, as she glanced over at us.

"Wait…" I said, catching on to who she meant. "You don't mean Mystogen, do you?" I asked, as my eyes widened. _Of course… Not much is known about Mystogen, not even what his face looks like!_ I thought, as I realized that it was Mystogen.

"That's him…" Happy said, as he hovered over Erza, as a smile stretched across his feline face.

"If he's back, then I'll leave Laxus to Mystogen. Meanwhile, I'm going after Evergreen. We defeat her, then the girls will be turned back to normal. And Laxus won't have any more hostages." Erza said, as she made sure she was ready to head out.

"Good idea… But you must hurry, there isn't much time left." Master said, as he glanced at the timer in the enchantment.

As they talked, a sudden idea came to me. Walking up to the barrier, I placed my hand flat against it. All around my hand, runes appeared. Studying them for a minute, I looked for signs of runes for body link magic. Not finding any, I released a little bit of ice magic. It froze the runes solid for a few seconds before it reverted back to normal.

Smiling at this, I did it again, only cracked the ice around my hand. In doing so, I got my hand to stick through the barrier before it reformed. The only down side to my little trick was that it wouldn't let me pull my hand back.

Freezing it again, I shattered the ice, and quickly pulled my hand back.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" I heard Natsu shout from behind me, as I glanced over my shoulder to see everyone looking at me in shock.

Ignoring him and the others, I looked at Erza.

"I can only get it to do it for a few seconds, so I can only get myself through… You mind splitting up to look for Evergreen?" I asked her, as she got over her shock, and nodded.

"Alright… Now get moving!" Master Makarov said then, ordering us to head out.

Nodding once, I pressed my entire body up against the enchantment, and froze a section big enough for me to pass through. Once it was made, I shattered it, and quickly stepped through before the barrier could heal itself.

Smirking up at the sky, I couldn't help but let out a devilish chuckle.

"Wasn't expecting that were you, Laxus…" I said in a fiendishly delighted voice. "And now to take out your teams little Tinker Bell." I said, as I started sniffing around for said woman's scent. Finding it, I ran off in that direction.

The scent lead me into the streets of Magnolia. I wasn't too far from home when a voice had me stopping in my tracks.

"My, that's odd. I recall turning you to stone…" I heard her say to someone.

Peeking around the corner of the building I heard it coming from, I spotted Erza on the ground, glaring up at Evergreen on a roof top.

"No matter… It's just gives me an excuse to torment you further…" Evergreen continued when Erza didn't say anything back. "Either way… There is also something I must fix in the minds of others… They call you Titania, Queen of the Fairies… What a farce? When I'm the true fairy queen."

Just hearing her say that made me want to gag. Glancing over at Erza, I began wondering how she could stand there and not want to puke over how petty and jealous that woman was being.

"And who did Max think he was by calling that ice witch an Ice Queen, when stone is much _cooler_ and lasts a lot longer..." The green freak continued, as I felt a tick mark pop up on my head. That idiot! Did she really think that I actually _liked_ being given such a name, much less competing in that stupid competition! Besides, a female dragon slayers may worry about their looks, but I find it pointless. Being a dragon slayer will bring me into some up close battles with monsters, and other dragons that are possibly still out there; not to mention that I know I'll walk away with a few scars here and there. And besides, not all scars are ugly...

The two on Gajeel's arm seemed to fit him quite well...

_What the heck? FOCUS Icelynn... Though I wonder how he got them..._ I found myself thinking, as I turned my attention back to the fight that was about to happen.

"Enough! Are you going to fight me, or not Evergreen?" Erza demanded, before I could blow my cover and run out there like a freaking moron.

Throwing Erza an evil smirk, Evergreen started attacking her with her magic. Knowing Erza could handle that girl, I turned my attention to finding out where Laxus had hidden himself.

Thinking that it was probably better if Erza fights Evergreen herself. After all, it takes time for me to break that tone spell. While Erza has an advantage with her eye. Turning from them, I headed out. As I wondered through town, I kept my senses open for any member of the Thunder Legion that could be lurking around, and for Freed's enchantments.

A few minutes later, I happened to look down an alley and spotted gray lying face down. Scenting the entrance to the ally, I smelled an enchantment. Making a small ball of ice, I gently tossed in a little ways into the ally. And sure enough, I bounced off an invisible wall that surrounded Gray. Reading the runes that popped up, it said: _Magic is forbidden to be used._

"Gray!" I called to him, only to get no response.

"Natsu called you an _ice princess_..." I said, and waited to see if anything would happen.

"What!?" Gray muttered weakly, as he opened his eyes to glare at me.

"Icelynn?" He asked after a minute.

Nodding my head yes, I asked him what happened, and he told me about how Bixlow had beaten him.

"So he controls souls, and is haunting the toy store?" I asked to confirm my new information.

"Yeah... So try not to make yourself obvious." Gray warned, as he pushed himself up, only to stumble over to the wall, and slide down to sit on the ground.

Throwing a wary glance at him, I looked towards the exit of the ally.

"You should stay here and rest for a while... I'm going to find out where Laxus is. Erza's fighting Evergreen, so the others should be fine in a few minutes; but I have a feeling that Laxus probably has another trick up his sleeve. He and his team have really done well for an attempt take over." I said, as I warily glanced all around.

"That's right... How did you get out? And Erza?" Gray asked, once he realized that Erza and I should be stone right about now.

"I was able to make a thin ice shield around my body before the spell set in. And Erza said something about her eye, as she could guess, to be the reason to how she made it out." I quickly explained, as I stood turned to face the exit.

"Icelynn..." Looking over my shoulder, I glanced at Gray. "Be careful... And if you find Laxus... Kick his ass." Gray said with a dead serious look.

"You can count on that." I agreed, as I left the ally, and headed in the direction I had come from. The toy store was in the direction I had originally been going. If Bixlow had that part of town, and Evergreen the part where Erza was. Freed had taken down Ridus, so he was on that side. Leaving one place...

Laxus in the center of Magnolia...

As I ran through town, I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't smell the enchantment I had run into until I ran into the other side of the barrier. Hitting the damn thing, I fell back on my butt. Shaking the slight dizziness I felt from the impact, I looked around for whoever I would have to fight.

_Who is it? Freed...? Bixlow...?_ I thought as I jumped to my feet.

And not a second later, I was forced to jump out of the way of a stray shot of light. Looking to where it had come from, I spotted Erza advancing on Evergreen. After another round of light attacks, only multiplied by two, Erza re quipped off her shoes, and held two swords between her toes. With strange accuracy, she then pinned Evergreen to a nearby tower.

Jumping up on top of the roof top it was on, I looked at the situation.

"Are you alright Icelynn?" Erza asked me, as she held two swords by her side.

"Yeah... That was a surprise..." I said, as I looked from her to the green fairy pinned to the wall.

"H-how did you get out of my spell? And what about Freed's enchantment!?" she asked with wide eyes. Thankfully, her glasses were on, and her hands were pinned to where she couldn't pull them off.

Ignoring her question, Erza got down to business.

"Never mind that... Now, you're going to turn the others back to normal." Erza ordered, as she began to walk forward.

"Wait...! There's another power my eyes grant me over stone!" Evergreen said, as she looked Erza dead in the eye. "Remote control..."

At this Erza froze in place, as I felt my eyes change into dragon eyes.

"If either of you refuse to do what I say, then I'll just topple them over..." Evergreen continued with a crazed look in her eyes. However, I didn't see the look I was looking for... "Now the both of your knelt to me and give up!" she demanded.

Erza paused in hesitation, thinking about what Evergreen had just said. I on the other hand, let the snarl of fury that had built up in my throat out. Hearing it, Evergreen started sweating, and the scent I hand detected on her increased.

Ever so slowly, I pushed my magical energy outward, allowing it to change my hair white and light blue. Letting a cold, sadistic smirk cross my face, I bared my dragon fangs at her. Taking step after slow step towards her, I stopped when I was only a few inches from her face.

"Evergreen, Evergreen... If you have such a power, then by all means use it, because I'm not gonna stop until this whole damn messed up game is over..." I said, as she coward back, a look of pure fear in her eyes. "However, should you choose to do that, then I'll have no choice but to tear out your heart, and bathe in your blood before I rip your soul out in retribution for their deaths..." I said in a low, dangerous whisper that promised a painful and horrific death.

Evergreen then turned pale blue in the face, before letting out a terrified scream. Smirking now that I had her full attention, I pulled back a fist, and launched it at her face. Hearing a satisfying squelch, and a small shout of pain, I dropped my scary act, and turned my eyes and hair back to normal.

"IF YOU'RE GOING TO BLUFF YOU ASS, THEN YOU BETTER DO IT RIGHT YOU DAMN IDIOT!" I scolded harshly, as I watched the blood pour from Evergreen's nose. "And how come you didn't notice it?" I asked Erza, who looked on with a shocked and ashamed expression.

I didn't want to risk the lives of the others." She said in an innocent whisper. Sighing heavily, I let it go. If I hadn't caught the fear in Evergreen's scent, or the look in her eyes, then I would have done the same thing...

In the end, I could tell that Evergreen wasn't a killer.

"Alright you win..." Evergreen said a second later, as she closed her eyes, and hopefully released her spell. A second later, a message appeared on the enchantment surrounding us.

It read: _Battle of Fairy Tail Status Report... Erza vs. Icelynn vs. Evergreen... Evergreen Knocked Out... Game enchantment self-destruct in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..._

And with that it was gone. Maybe Makarov and the others could get out now...

"The enchantments around town have been disabled, save for the one on the guild hall... Freed set it up to last longer than the others..." Evergreen said from where she hung. "And by the way, can you please get me down from here?" She asked.

"I suppose we should take her to a healer..." I said as I placed my hands over my hips.

"What about Laxus? We let her go, she'll do something, and I just know it." Erza said, as I nodded in agreement.

"Good point..." I said, as I noticed a familiar person walking in the streets below. "Laki!" I shouted down to her. Snapping her head up, she looked up at us.

"Icelynn? Erza?" she asked, standing on guard.

"The enchantments are gone... I need to ask you for a favor!" I shouted back, as she used a wood make spell to create some steps to climb to get on the roof top we were on.

"Do you mind tending to Evergreen's broken nose..? I'm going to freeze her hands to the wall behind her until this is over." I asked, as Laki nodded her head yes.

Once I had Evergreen taken care of, I turned back to Erza.

"I'm going to head back to the guild to make sure everyone's alright. Oh, and I'm thinking that Laxus is hiding somewhere in the middle of town. Ridus tried to go and get Porlyusica's help, but Freed stopped him, and beat him in a fight. So, I'll leave him to you." I said to Erza, who nodded.

Jumping to the ground below, I lightly landed on the ground, and ran for the guild. Now that all the enchantments were gone, I didn't have to worry about running into them. However, I kept an eye out for Bixlow or Freed. I knew that I wouldn't see Laxus anywhere. He had to stay hidden after all.

Reaching the guild hall, I slowed as I reached the open door. Reaching a hand out, I felt the barrier's resistance. Meaning that Evergreen was telling the truth. Peering inside, I spotted all of the other girls looking to Master Makarov for an explanation. Glancing over at Lucy, I sighed in relief that she was alright.

Using my little trick to get inside, I entered the guild hall. The freezing and shattering sounds had everyone looking in my direction.

"You're all alright!" I said in relief, as I walked over to them.

"Icelynn! Did you find him?" Master asked me, a grave, yet happy expression on his face.

"No, but I have a feeling as to where he might be hiding." I said, as Lucy walked over to me, Happy hugging her huge boobs while he cried about how worried he was about her.

_What am I? Chopped Liver?_ I mentally sighed, but ignored it a second later. "Either way, I'm glad Evergreen was bluffing about having control over stone statues…" I muttered, as something fell out of Levy's pocket. When it hit the ground, it looked as though it hit a rewind button.

Looking at it, I felt my eyes widen as I saw the little talk I had with Evergreen on the roof top.

Blinking down at it, Levy hit the play button once she realized what it was of. After they played the whole thing, I found myself sheepishly looking down at my own feet. Had I really been that scary?

Everyone but Gajeel and Natsu were giving me terrified looks. Looks they normally gave Erza when they think about her punishments…

Gajeel was trying really hard not to laugh. "Nice show Ice Fairy…" Gajeel said, as he did a weird unique laugh.

"Why did you scare Evergreen like that?" Natsu asked, being his normal dense self.

"Because she made a threat she wasn't going to follow through in. Not to mention I was still kind of pissed about being a statue." I muttered, as a tick mark popped up on my forehead again.

"As long as everyone is safe…" Gramps said, as he looked over at the enchantment. "Well Laxus, you're all out of hostages boy. Can't continue with your game, now can you?" He said to the enchantment, as if Laxus could hear him. Which he probably could, who knew?

The next few minutes were filled with catching everyone else in on what happened with Laxus, his team, and how Erza and I got out of our spells.

"He called it the Battle of Fairy Tail…" Lucy said, as her eyes widened over what she had heard.

"Man… Laxus really out did himself this time." Kana said, as she took a calming swig of whatever alcohol she had this time.

"Anyway, it's over. I only played along with this stupid little game because your lives were in danger; but no more…" Gramps said, with a determined look in his eyes.

"Master, there's no way we can let him get away with this… Even if he's your grandson." Mira said from the back of the group, to which the green haired girl named Bisca agreed.

"Oh don't worry, I'll give him a punishment he'll never forget." Gramps said, as he went into his father figure role. "You can mess with me, but you best leave my guild alone." He snapped, as Natsu held up a hand.

"Hold on Gramps." He said, as we all turned towards him. "I don't know about taking hostages, but I don't see anything wrong with seeing who's the strongest… I think we should keep the battle going. Besides, I think he was just trying to have some fun for the festival." He continued, as he then eyed me. "How about it Icelynn!? I haven't fought you yet!" He then declared, as he lit up his fists and lunged at me.

Sighing an aggravated breath, I caught his flaming hand, kneed him in the gut, shoved him to the floor, and froze his hands and feet to the floor before planting my foot in the middle of his chest.

"There, I win." I said in a dry voice, full of sarcasm. All the while, everyone around me just blinked at me in shock and confusion. Especially Gajeel…

"What?" I simply asked them. How could they be shocked? Natsu wasn't even serious about it.

"Natsu, if Laxus wanted to have fun with something like this, then he should have asked the guild, and not forced anyone to play by turning us to stone statues… He was threatening to _kill_ us." I said calmly, as I removed my foot from Natsu, who only looked up at me in disbelief.

"In the end, I'm sure he's only bluffing." Natsu said, as he used his fire magic to get out of the ice, and standing to his feet. "I still think it's a good idea."

"You know, I don't think it's nice to beat up on girls who are your friends." Happy said, agreeing with the rest of us, while trying to give Natsu a point to change his mind.

"A girl, a guy, I don't care anymore!" Natsu whined. "I just want to fight!"

Rolling my eyes, I ignored the rest of what Natsu was saying. We'd just have to see at the end if he was right. And I pray for this guild and its master's sake that he was right. If not, he'd be crushed…

After all, I had enough experience on the streets to know that until you look at the man in the eyes, you better take the threat seriously, or you'd end up dead.

_Icelynn, how did you know he wasn't gonna kill us?_

_ He didn't have it in his eyes…_

_ But how do you know what it looks like?_

_ Because the looks been in my eyes before, and in that of the person I-_

Cutting off the memory at that, I turned back to the world. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Gajeel glancing warily over at me, while trying to be sneaky about it. Had my outward appearance changed when that memory popped up? If so, I hoped he was the only one who saw it, and wouldn't ask…

A sound had us looking at the enchantment on the door then. It had turned red, and was forming some sort of shape. Which turned out to be a red skull made out of enchantment runes.

"_Can you hear me old man?_" Asked the last voice I had wanted to hear for a very long time. "_The rest of you better listen up too…_"

"What do you want?" Natsu demanded, as he walked to the front of the newly formed group.

"_Looks like one of the rules has gone out the window… But that fine, I'll add a new one… In other words, since I would really hate to end the Battle of Fairy Tail so early; I've decided to activate the _Thunder Palace_._" Laxus spoke through it, as I really bad feeling settled into my stomach.

Whatever this Thunder Palace was, it didn't sound good. Gramps seemed to know what it was though.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND LAXUS!?" He shouted, outrage and pure shock and fear on his features. My bad feeling doubled.

"_You have one hour and ten minutes… If you think you can win, then you better get your asses moving… Unless you're ready to hand the guild over to me now, Master_" Laxus said, making the sneer in his voice very clear, before making the runes dissipate on the end of an evil laugh.

Then the tension in the air rose to a very dangerous level. Any higher, and it'd knock us all out.

"_I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS BOY! I WON'T LET YOUD DRAG INNOCENT PEOPLE INTO THIS!_" Master Makarov said, as his magic rose the tension slightly higher before he suddenly grabbed at his shirt over his chest, and the pressure disappeared altogether, and he fell over.

Knowing what most likely just happened, I jumped forward, and stopped the poor old man from hitting the ground too hard.

"Master Makarov!" I shouted in worry, as he fell immediately unresponsive. Using my hand, I put it over his tiny one, and testing his magical energy and life force. What I found wasn't good either. He was suffering from a magic induced heart attack. All from the stress, tension, and risen blood pressure in anger his grandson had put the poor old man through.

"I'll go get his medicine." Mira said, as she turned to run off.

"Mira, wait!" I shouted, stopping her. "Unless it's heart medicine it won't do any good. But if he has some, get it to him." I said, as she nodded and ran to get it.

"Icelynn?" Lucy asked me, a worried look on her face, and that of everyone else here too.

"I've seen this happen before, and it's a serious condition." I explained, before looking up at Happy, who was hovering above us. "Happy, hurry and go get Porlyisica, but fly high up enough that Freed and Bixlow don't see you. Once she knows, then fly back as fast as you can before any of them notices." I ordered, as Happy said aye, and flew off.

"What do you think is wrong with Gramps?" Natsu asked, a frown on his face.

Taking a deep breath, I debated whether or not to tell Natsu. In the end, I decided to ignore him. At the moment, I was having trouble trying to not cause any trouble myself over the little yet serious fact…

So instead, I just handed him over to Mira, who said something about looking outside. Following everyone else out, our eyes were met with hundreds of small lacrima that looked to be surrounding the entire city. In each little sphere was a lightning bolt.

"Laxus you cowardly bastard!" I found myself snarling as I recognized what they were.

"What in the heck are those?" Natsu asked the question a few of the rest of them clearly had in their eyes.

"They're lightening lacrima. Every single one of them." I said, as my bad feeling tripped. "And they're surrounding the entire town and everyone in it." I said in frustration, as I turned to the nearby wall, and punched it. Underestimating my strength in my anger, I ended up punching a hole through the poor thing.

"They don't look like something that bad." Natsu said then, being his usual dense self.

"Yeah… They appear that way, but their anything but friendly… If Laxus sets them off, then the entire town and everyone in it will be burnt to a crisp. Everything will be destroyed, and everyone would be killed…" Kana explained, as it dawned at how bad the situation was to Natsu.

"Could this be the Thunder Palace he was referring to?" Juvia asked, as she looked up at them.

"Yes… And we have to figure out how to stop it before he decides to set it off…" I said, as I looked back up at them. This was going to be tricky.

A tense silence filled everyone for a moment.

"Well. I won't let that happen!" Bisca shouted, as she re quipped a gun to her hands. Aiming at one of the lacrima, she fired off one of her magic shots. A few seconds later, it was destroyed, but a bolt of lightning came back and struck her.

Cringing, I felt sorry for her. Half of one sucked…

Out the corner of my eye, I also saw Gajeel cringing. I had forgotten about yesterday… He had taken on not just one whole bolt, but two… One directly from Laxus, and one to save me and Levy and her team. Glancing over at me, we both shared a silent agreement that lightening magic sucked for those who couldn't use it…

Letting out a scream of pain, Bisca then fell over knocked out.

"Bisca!" Levy shouted, as she knelt down next to her to see if she was still alive.

"What the hell!" Natsu nearly shouted in shock.

"I don't get it… Why did she get zapped?" Lucy asked, a look of horror on her face.

"Body link magic… _Sparky_ must have had it put on them to keep us from wanting to destroy them. So if we attack them, they attack us with as much magic power as we used… It's very dangerous to use magic to attack it. Bisca's lucky she didn't get killed by it." I explained, as Kana motioned for Juvia to help her move Bisca to the infirmary.

"Where did you learn all of this stuff, Icelynn?" Natsu asked me then, a curious look on his face.

"Somewhere I never should have been." I said, as I dodged his question. That kind of history lesson wasn't for the ears of people like Natsu, or anyone else for that matter who wasn't there…

"What are we going to do?" Levy asked, worry all across her face. She hated seeing people so much as having a cold, so this would definitely have her devastated.

"If we get to him fast enough, then taking down Laxus will do the job. And I know what area he is too." I said, as I looked off towards the center of town. The only significant thing about the center of town were a few house level shops, and Kardia Cathedral…

"No way…" I muttered out loud, as it hit me. Kardia Cathedral was in the dead center of Magnolia… Like a central nerve point with easy access to the rest of the town. A good place to keep runes running, and a thought projection stable with whomever it's with…

As I was lost in my thoughts, I missed Natsu trying to jump out the barrier. Though I did hear him shout at how unfair it was that I could get out while he couldn't.

…

_Gajeel…_

Glancing over at the Ice Fairy, I watched as something like realization crossed her face, as her blue eyes widened. Following her line of sight, I spotted the Cathedral in the center of town.

"Everything alright Ice Fairy?" I asked, as I walked over to stand beside her. Keeping my voice low enough so the Salamander wouldn't hear. If he finds out, then he'll just make a bunch of headache worthy noise.

"I think I just figured out where he is." She said in a low voice, so only I would hear.

"Kardia Cathedral?" I asked, as I glanced from her to it, and back to her in time to see her nod her head once. "How do you figure that?"

"Because Freed took out Ridus who went to get Porlyusica, and a few others on that third of the town. I found Gray on another third where Bixlow was, and Erza beat Evergreen on the last third. That left the middle wide open. And Kardia Cathedral is the only building that would stand out like a sore thumb. A place where the smart would think is too obvious, and the dense too dumb to even think about." She explained, with a great deal of insight. She was also right. If you thought about it, it all made sense…

"Well then… I'm going to go help the citizens evacuate!" I heard Ice Fairy's sister say, causing Icelynn to whirl around.

"No Lucy!" She shouted, making her stop.

"Icelynn, we don't have time for this! I can't stand by and let this happen!" Lucy argued.

"Stop and think for a second Lucy!" Icelynn growled. "If you go down there and start telling people about this, they'll only panic and hurt each other! And I guarantee that they'll more than likely be people from old geezers to little kids who could be trampled to death! Not to mention the kids that could get separated from their parents! All of those are factors that cause time to be lost." She explained, causing Lucy to stay her hand.

"I didn't think about that…" Lucy said, as she looked down at her feet. A hurt look on her face that made Icelynn cringe.

"Sorry Luce, I didn't mean to snap at you… I know you have good intentions, but they're safer in not knowing." Ice Fairy apologized, as Lucy looked up at her with raw determination.

Determination I had seen before when I had captured them.

"Then I'm going to try to find either Freed or Bixlow. I can keep them busy long enough for whoever finds Laxus and beats him." She said, as she turned and ran out the door.

"Lucy…" I heard the Ice Fairy mutter, as she watched her sister go.

"She'll be alright Icelynn." I said, causing her to look sharply at me in shock. "She's not as strong of a fighter as we dragon slayers, but she's got enough fight in her to raise enough hell. So have some faith in her." I continued, as Icelynn blinked over at me, before throwing a huge smile over at me.

"Thanks Gajeel…" she said, as her smile widened some. Seeing her smile at me like that had my face suddenly feeling warm. Knowing that it was a blush, I quickly turned my face in another direction.

"Who said I was trying to cheer you up Ice Fairy." I spat at her, to which I only heard her giggle, causing my blush to get redder.

After another minute, I heard Juvia and that drinking woman leave the guild. Knowing what they're going out there for, I glanced up at the lacrima. Watching them closely, I felt a growl rumble through my chest. If Fairy Tail doesn't like me after I help save their asses after this, then I know who I can trust before anyone else.

_Well… If he survives, then right now it's just two…_ I said, as I glanced over at the Ice Fairy, who was watching the salamander with a wary expression as he then jumped over the railing, only to smash into that damn barrier all over again.

"DAMN IT LAXUS! YOU'VE TAKEN THIS TOO FAR!" Salamander shouted, as he started bashing his head against it. Making no progress in breaking it.

"Stop it Natsu! Just clam down!" the shrimp called down to him, as he kept hitting the damn thing over and over again.

"He's not listening Levy." Icelynn said, as she planted her hand against her forehead, as shrimp then looked to the red things surrounding wherever the Salamander touched it.

"It's an enchantment!" she said, sounding excited of all things.

"Yeah, thanks… We already knew that." I said dryly, as the Shrimp looked over at me.

"Well damn… I forgot… You know how to break them right Levy?" I heard Icelynn as the little blue haired shrimp, as I perked up at his.

"Really?" I asked them, as a hopeful expression crossed my face.

"Sure… And when I do, you guys will be free to track down Laxus." Shrimp said, as she smiled at all three of us. I couldn't help but smirk at hearing this. So I get to fight after all… And I knew just where to find his ass…

_But first, there's someone I need to talk to..._

…

Next Chapter – Chapter 9 – Triple Unison Raid

…...

Okay, that took forever to wright… Well, here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. In the next chapter is the big show down with Laxus. I know in the anime, it was just Natsu and Gajeel who fought, but I want to include Icelynn in there because she is also a dragon slayer. And they nearly got beaten, so I added her to even it out some.

Either way, I'm off to write some more chapters, and I hope you enjoy the rest that is yet to come of this story.

Thanks for reading!

Bugg18


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Triple Unison Raid

_Icelynn..._

Flipping through the book in my lap, I glanced up to see if Levy had figured anything out yet. She was currently laying on her stomach on the floor, scribbling notes on a piece of paper next to the book she was reading, all in trying to undo the enchantment keeping both Natsu and Gajeel trapped here in the guild hall. Not to mention, it would help me in not exhausting my magic energy in breaking in and out of it as well.

When everything is said and done here, we still have to be careful. Earlier, we saw something that indicated that Freed had set up some more of his enchantments for the girls who were not longer stone.

A sound at the enchantment where Gajeel and Natsu were currently standing had me glancing over. On it, it said that Lucy had managed to beat Bixlow.

"What the hell? You mean to tell me that little princess can actually fight?" I heard Gajeel nearly shout in shock.

"Yeah... She's a tough as nails." Natsu said, a tone of pride in his voice.

"But she's just a cheerleader who's as scary as a freaking bunny!" Gajeel insisted, as Natsu looked over at his with a really crazy looking thoughtful look.

"Well... In the story, the cheerleader beat the tortoise..." Natsu continued, as I glanced over at him with a WTF look.

"I've never heard a story like that!" Gajeel shouted in an annoyed confusion, as Natsu gave him a shocked look as he slammed his head against Gajeel's.

"Really!? You've never heard the story of the _Tortoise and the Cheerleader_?" Natsu asked in his dense belief, as he pulled a turtle puppet out of God knows where. Hopefully it's not his ass...

"It was a _hare_ you moron!" Gajeel shouted, pushing his head up against Natsu's in a form of a challenge, as he pulled out a fucking _pink rabbit puppet_ of his own, and pushed it against Natsu's turtle puppet. "And the damn bunny lost!" he continued, as Natsu looked at him as if he'd grown two heads.

"Way to go Luce..." I whispered with a smile, as I tuned the two morons arguing over a kids' story out, and turned my focus back towards my and Levy's work.

"Yeah... We're right there with her..." Levy said, before frowning over a page in her own book. "Though I still don't get this part at all..." As she said this, I was looking over her shoulder at the page to see if I could understand it.

It really did seem confusing though...

Studying it a bit longer, I heard Gajeel fussing about how a speedy varmint learned his lesson.

"HOLY FREAKING SHIT! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T I GUESS THAT RIGHT AWAY!_" _ I shrieked, as Gajeel's words gave me an idea. Grabbing Gajeel by the neck of his shirt, I quickly yanked him over, and kissed him on his right cheek for his idiotic brilliance before turning to Levy. "Levy! What if we changed the speed at which the variables are carried out! That way, the damn thing won't have time to see if the person passing through has a lost magic!" I said, as Levy immediately understood what I was saying.

"I see what you mean!" She agreed, as she started scribbling on her papers faster. "If I compare the two styles of grammar, which are as different as a tortoise and a hare, and translate them at a different rate, then I can accomplish what you just mentioned!" Levy said, as she gained a look of victory on her face. "It worked!"

Gathering up her papers, Levy began working on the enchantment. And as she did so, I felt my face turn red as I realized what I had did...

I, _Icelynn Lace_, pecked Gajeel Redfox on the cheek.

…...

_Gajeel..._

When the Ice Fairy turned to explain something to the shrimp, I couldn't help but blink down at the place she had just stood a second ago, as my brain tried to bring the rest of me up to speed on what the fuck had just happened here.

I knew it wasn't my imagination because Salamander was gaping at me like a fish out of water with a confused, and startled expression on his face. A face he normally made when something overly bizarre just happened. And being weird to the extreme, it had to be extremely weird for him to make that face.

And it's all because the Ice Fairy just kissed me for giving her an idea with that stupid conversation I had with Salamander over a stupid story for babies that had me feeling like I was killing off brain cells early...

I looked over at Salamander for answers. He's known her longer than I have after all.

"You're the first one I've seen her do that to." He said with a shrug, as I looked back over at the Ice Fairy, and I was sure there was a blush on my face...

A second later, I watched as what she did catch up to her, and she blushed too before finding her feet more interesting than anything else. Meaning she did it out of instinct. Which I found interesting...

When shrimp shouted that she had figured what she needed to do to get us out of here, I quickly shook the thought of it from my mind. I'd just have to corner her later when everything is over with and ask her about it...

A few minutes later, Levy had the barrier down. Before any of us could rush off, Icelynn stopped us. Thankfully, she was some what okay now.

"Hold on you guys!" She shouted, as we all paused. "We need to come at Laxus' location at different angles. Apparently Freed has put up some more enchantments, if what happened between Kana and Juvia are anything to go by." she warned, as we both nodded, and headed out.

…...

_Laxus..._

As I watched Freed's enchantment relay the news of the most recent screw up of another member of my team, I felt my temper rise to a whole new dangerous level as my magic began to flare up and crack all around my still form.

"First Evergreen's failure, and now you too Bixlow!" I growled as I punched the tall column next to where I stood. So far, the only one I've been able to rely on is Freed. The other two are lucky that I _might_ still be swayed to let them into my guild when everything is over with.

None the less, Blondie was another I would let stay in the guild. She was cute like her sister, and hell, she some how kicked Bixlow's ass...

A few more minutes went by, as another update popped up. Glancing at it, I couldn't help but smirk. So that chick from Phantom took herself out. Which is fine. Just saves me and my team the trouble of taking her out later. And Kana's about to be taken out as well. Being up against Freed, I know she's gonna loose. Three more minutes went by, and my prediction was right. Kana was out. And from the looks of things, Mirajane has entered the fray. At first, I thought that Freed would have no problems beating her; however, my mind was quickly changed when I felt a strong aura I had thought I'd never feel again.

Poor bastard... I don't know what the hell Freed did, but he's gonna be in for a world of hurt. Especially if Demon Mirajane is out to play once again. If he survives, he'll feel everything ten fold in the morning...

A few minutes later, the enchantment updated again.

_Mirajane vs. Freed. Both wizards forfeit._

Gritting my teeth, I swore. Looks like Freed ended up failing me too.

"Don't you think enough is enough?" I heard a familiar voice ask from the entrance to the cathedral. Turning around, I spotted the masked form of Fairy Tail's other contender for it's strongest wizard.

"Mystogen..." I smirked, as I turned to face him fully. "I see you actually showed up." I said, as Mystogen glared at me.

"I'm surprised you're here." I continued when he stayed silent. "I didn't think that this game would be of any interest to you."

"If you bring down the Thunder Palace right now, we may be able to convince the town that it was part of the festival." Mystogen said, his voice hinting at no emotion whatsoever. Typical of the mysterious _wizard_...

"Is that really why you came back? Just to tell me that." I said in disbelief. "Give me a break. I know you want a piece of the action. You want to know who the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail is, right?" I said, as my smirk turned more dangerous.

"Don't be so quick to rule out Erza." He simply said.

"You kidding me? Sure the girl's got spunk, but she's still weak."

"Huh... You think she's weak." Mystogen continued, his voice turning slightly dangerous."You're either blind or more ignorant than I thought." He scolded, as I scoffed at him.

"Nothing against her, but I think we both can agree that we're stronger." I said, as Mystogen aura darkened slightly. I couldn't help but smirk at this. Erza was one of Mystogen's weak points. Not because he likes her, but rather, the person she looks like. But because of this, he's rather protective of Erza. It all had to do with Mystogen's dirty little secret.

"Perhaps you are blind, if you see the world in such simple terms." Mystogen continued, adding a taunting edge to his voice. I didn't know if he wanted to fight to see who was the strongest or not, but I could tell he was raring to go just as much as I was...

"I'm tire of talking about this..." I said, as my smirk grew. "I say we do this here and now _Mystogen_... Or should I say-" I began, only for _Mystogen_ to launch the first attack before I could get his _real_ name out...

…...

_Icelynn..._

I was on my way to the South side of Kardia Cathedral when I felt the shock wave, and heard the glass shatter. Apparently, someone had already reached the church. Hearing a commotion to my right, I looked down an alley and spotted Natsu shouting for Laxus to come out and fight him.

"Oh crap, I forgot." I said, as I remembered that the only one I had told the location of Laxus to was Gajeel and Erza. I had held off on telling Natsu so he wouldn't try and do something reckless while we were still locked in the guild hall. Sighing heavily, I ran over to him.

The enchantments no longer mattered because Freed had backed out of the game, and disabled all of them. Including the one on the guild hall. I knew this because I heard Porlyusica asking Levy where the master was.

"Oh Icelynn, its you." Natsu said, as I reached him. "Any luck on finding Laxus yet?"

"Actually, I've known where he was for a while now..." I said, giving Natsu an apologetic look.

"Icelynn! How am I supposed to kick his lightening butt if you hog all the info to yourself." Natsu scolded, as bits of flame fell out of his mouth. "Never mind, it doesn't matter anymore... Just tell me where he is." He continued, switching from one mood to the next at strange speeds.

Ignoring his antics, I turned towards the way I was going.

"You know where that blast came from?" I asked him, as he nodded.

"From the church right?" he asked.

"You got it... Freed's enchantments are down now, so follow me." I said, as we both took off.

"I wonder what caused that blast." Natsu said as we ran. "Gajeel maybe?"

"I don't think so... The level of power actually suggests someone like Mystogen. Or perhaps Mirajane." I said, as the church came into view.

Seeing the entrance, Natsu ran on a head, and slammed one of the huge doors open; while Erza slammed open the other one.

"So here you are." They both said at the same time, before looking at each other in shock.

"Oh brother..." I muttered under my breath as I stood between the two of them. Looking up from them, I saw that it had been Mystogen fighting with Laxus. A second later, Laxus launched a surprise attack while Mystogen was distracted with our sudden entrance.

Mystogen was able to dodge the attack for the most part, but his mask was destroyed, and revealed the face of...

_One of the Magic Counsel Members!?_ I thought in shock, as I tried to remember the name of the blue haired guy I was thinking about. Last I heard, this guy had been branded a dangerous criminal, and traitor. And I wasn't the only one who thought so...

Upon seeing his face, Erza froze to her spot.

"Jellal." She said in a shocked voice barely above a whisper.

Throwing Laxus one last glare, Mystogen; er, Jellal, turned to look at Erza fully, a sad look came over this Jellal/Mystogen's face.

"Erza... Please forgive me. I was afraid you'd see this." Jellal/Mystogen said, as he glanced over at Laxus to m"I'm not your friend _Jellal_... I've heard of him, but I'm _not_ him." _Mystogen_ continued, as he looked back at Erza.

Studying her for a second, Mystogen turned to face Laxus.

"I'm sorry... I must be going." He said, before disappearing into vapor.

"Hold on!" Natsu shouted, trying to stop him. When he was gone though, he placed his hands on his head before hanging it. "Okay... That made my brain hurt... But I can't think of it now..." Natsu continued, as he then looked back up at Laxus.

Ignoring Natsu, I kept one eye on Laxus, while I kept tabs on Erza. She looked pretty shaken. Like a deer caught in the headlights of a car it knows it won't survive being hit by.

"Alright man! I'm taking you down!" Natsu shouted at Laxus, before glancing over at Erza and I. "I'm taking this clown out. That okay with you guys?" He asked, as he paused, finally noticing Erza's distressed state.

"Erza?" I called, trying to snap her out of it. Only to be met with silence.

A cracking noise was the only warning we got before Laxus zapped Erza, knocking her backwards.

"That's quite the face you're making girlie... _Ugly..."_ Laxus said, as he watched his magic reek havoc on Erza long after he cut his attack.

"Erza!" I called, as I knelt down next to her.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Natsu shouted, finally catching Laxus' attention. "I already told you, you're mine." he said, pointing at Laxus.

"Hey." Laxus chuckled. "Didn't even notice you."

At this, Natsu momentarily deflated.

"Talk about a major let down." I muttered, as I watched Natsu go through his multiple moods again. I had to wonder how Lucy could handle it. Thankfully though, Natsu was able to snap out of it pretty quickly.

"Oh, you're about to notice me pal." Natsu growled, as he lit up one of his fists with is fire, and attacked Laxus. Grabbing Erza under the arms, I dragged her unconcious form out of the line of fire. Once she was out of the way, I turned to look at what was going on.

Laxus had taken off his black coat with fur around the neck, and his ear phones, and was currently blocking everything Natsu was throwing at him. At the moment, Laxus was holding on to Natsu's wrist, and literally pummeling him.

Moving Natsu a certain way, Laxus had his foot crackling with lightening magic, ready to stomp Natsu's face in. Knowing Natsu would throw a fit later, I poured my ice magic into my fist, and launched my own attack.

"ICE DRAGON BLAST!" I shouted, as I threw my magic laced attack at Laxus, who dodged it. Throwing a glare at me, followed by a nod, Natsu got up off his feet, and we attacked Laxus together. From the get go, I could tell that it wasn't going anywhere as Laxus not only dodged us, but knocked us around.

A few more minutes of this went by before he threw Natsu and I right in the center of the circle that rested in the center of the church. I'm sure if Erza had been here, then she could have helped us; but she had left to destroy all of the lacrima in the sky long ago. And if Laxus' reaction, and the fading of the enchantment towards the front was anything to go by, then I'd say she succeeded.

"Don't you two see what's happened to our guild. Especially you Natsu." Laxus said, as he slammed lightening down on top of Natsu and me. As the pain hit, I tried not to scream out from it. It would just boost this jack ass's ego...

"Thanks to the old geezer, Fairy Tail's nothing but a joke now." He continued, as he blasted us again. "I just want to weed out the weak. And when I become master, our name will strike fear into people's hearts!"

When the second round of pain was over with, I slowly pushed myself to my knees. Looking up at Laxus, I could see the crazy intent in his eyes. Looking closer, I tried to look for his will to kill us... What I found had me smirking on the inside.

"You'll never become the master of Fairy Tail." I said, as Laxus turned all his rage into a deadly glare directed at me. Most people would have been greatly traumatized by a look like this. However, I've seen it enough times in my life to just smirk at it, throw them my own look, and kick ass. But that was another life; another Icelynn...

"What did you say?" Laxus growled from between clenched teeth, before he blasted me alone this time. This time, the pain was too much to keep quiet about, as a small scream of pain tore from my throat. Falling over on my side, I glared over at Laxus once it passed.

"You... Heard her..." Natsu said, as he pushed himself up. "You wont get Fairy Tail... How can you expect to become our master when you can't even get along with us. As far as I know, Fairy Tail is fine the way it is." Natsu said, as he looked Laxus dead in the eyes. "I don't know anything about becoming the master of a guild, but I know that _this _isn't how you go about it."

"Natsu..." I couldn't help but smile over at him after hearing all of that. Sure he could be dense sometimes, but when it comes to things like this, he could be really wise when he wanted to.

Laxus on the other hand, didn't see it that way. Summoning up enough electric magic to do more than one person in, Laxus looked at us with a murderous expression.

"Fine! I'll just take it by force!" He shouted, as he blasted us extra good. Shouting out in pain, Natsu and I tried to bare it the best we could. Only this time, we found we coudln't really move. The electricity in us was too much... "AND THE TWO OF YOU TOGETHER ARENT' STRONG EOUGH TO STOP ME!"

I was expecting Laxus to zap us again, but instead he did something else with fatal intention.

"Can you feel the electric energy I've summoned... It will plummet from the heavens, and turn you into ash!" Laxus said, as he formed a massive ball of lightening above us. "RAGING BOLT!" Laxus shouted, as he swiftly motioned his arm down wards, making a huge ass bolt of lightening big enough to kill both Natsu and I; and we were too hurt to move out of the way.

For the first time in years, I felt afraid.

_Forgive me Storm... I didn't live long enough to do as promised..._ Was my last thought before I closed my eyes to accept my demise...

Only for it to never come...

"That's no way to treat any of your allies... And besides, I have something to ask the Ice Fairy, so I can't have you blast her into oblivion just yet Thankfully, I was able to get to them both first. And as for Salamander, I want to be the one to take this kid out." I heard a familiar voice say.

Snapping my eyes open, I found myself off the floor of the church, and being held between the railing of the upper floors, and a strong, muscular person. Alive, and out of harm for the moment. In his other hand, he held Natsu by the back part of the waist of his pants.

"Gajeel!" I said in shock, as he glanced over at me.

"That would be me, yes." he said, before doing that weird little chuckle of his.

Glancing over at Natsu, I sighed in relief that he was alright. A second later, I felt even more relieved when Natsu came to.

"Gajeel... Icelynn..." He said, as he looked over at each of us.

Jumping from the railings to the floor, Gajeel just dropped Natsu, before setting me down on my own two feet.

"You alright Icelynn?" He asked in concern, using my actual name for once in its rarity. Meaning he was dead serious in what he was asking. "That lightening is no joke."

"Yeah... And Natsu seems to be alright too." I replied, as Natsu climbed to his feet. Thankfully, the electric pulses we had were gone, and we were free to move again. Sure, we were sore from it, but still free to move about on our own. Besides, the fight isn't over with just yet. Not until Laxus can be taken down a few pegs.

"Oh, I have another challenger?" Laxus said, drawing all three of our attentions back to him. "You'll all be dead soon anyway... Those standing in my way will be eliminated."

"You two stay out of this, he's mine!" Natsu demanded once again, as I sighed in aggravation. As I was about to tell him it wasn't going to work, Gajeel beat me to it.

"No deal... I've got a score to settle with him from a couple of days ago." Gajeel said, "This guy's not messing around. He's a real monster... You can tell he's got Makarov's blood running through him... It sucks, but I think we're going to have to fight as a team. You, me, and the Ice Fairy." He said, as he kept his eyes firmly locked on his enemy.

Nodding, I found myself agreeing with what Gajeel was saying. After all, Natsu and I tried to fight Laxus together, and if it hadn't been for Gajeel, we really would have been _killed_...

"WHAT!" Natsu shouted, not happy with the arrangement at all. "I'M GONNA BE THE ONE TO BEAT LAXUS! BESIDES, I WOULD NEVER TEAM UP WITH A GOON LIKE YOU!"

"Just look at him." Gajeel said, just as I was about to hit Natsu upside the head. "Is he the same guy you remember?" he asked, as Natsu looked over.

"He has a point Natsu... Look what happened when we tried to fight him at the same time." I suggested. "The three of us are the only ones left who could stop him."

Seeing my point, Natsu sighed, getting what we were telling him.

"Since when did you guys become _Pro Fairy Tail_?" Natsu asked out of the blue.

"I CAN PROTECT OR DESTROY WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT!" Gajeel snapped at him, while I just smiled and gently shook my head. All the while missing the quick glance Gajeel threw at me on the word _protect_...

"I thought you said that there isn't enough room in the sky for two, let alone three dragons?" Natsu said, remembering what Gajeel had said back in the war with Phantom Lord.

"There's no dragons flying around with all this lightening..." Gajeel replied, as he smirked down at Natsu. Signifying that their temporary truce was now in motion.

"Just so you know, this is the only time I'm ever teaming up with you." Natsu warned.

"Trust me this isn't fun for me either." Gajeel said, signifying that he got it.

"Just shove it for now... If we stand here running our mouths too long, we'll just give him enough time to attack us however he wants to." I said, as I moved to stand between the two male dragon slayers as I felt my eyes and hair change,as both of which nodded in agreement.

"LET'S DO THIS!" All three of us shouted together, before moving as one to attack Laxus.

I don't know how he was able to do it, but Laxus was able to block quite a few of our attacks. With a third person involved, some of them were able to go through, but not all. After a few minutes of this, Laxus brought lightening to his hands. Seeing it, Gajeel and I jumped back, while Natsu kept going, and ended up getting hit by it.

Stopping Natsu from loosing ground, Gajeel pushed him forward a little bit. Thankfully though, it was enough of a distraction for me to freeze Laxus' feet to the floor.

"Use your breath!" Gajeel said, as Natsu and I stood on either side of him. Taking advantage of Laxus being temporarily stuck.

"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Natsu shouted, as he sent him breath attack at Laxus, while Gajeel launched an iron club at Laxus to make sure he would be hit. Only for Laxus to break out of the ice in time to dodge.

"IRON DRAGON SWORD!" Gajeel said, as he turned his arm into the chainsaw like sword, and swung it at Laxus. Dodging it as well, Laxus then sent several balls of lightening towards Gajeel.

Using this distraction to my advantage, I jumped up behind Laxus to send an attack of my own.

"ICE DRAGON BLIZARD!" I shouted as I used my magic to send thin, needle like ice cycles towards him. He managed to dodge most of them, but a few scratches and small cuts popped up on his skin.(If you've watched Naruto, it's kind of like the attack Haku sent towards Naruto and Sasuke with his senbon or throwing needles: Which is where I got the idea from, but changed it some) Seeing them I smirked. Only for it to die when Laxus zapped me again.

I could help but curse as I began falling towards the floor. Thankfully, I was still able to move, therefore able to land on my feet. Looking at Natsu and Gajeel, we all shared a look before we took our stances.

"Fire Dragon!"

"Ice Dragon!"

"Iron Dragon!"

"ROAR!"

Letting our breath attacks loose, all three of them collided together to form a three way unison raid. The attack hit Laxus dead on, and for a moment, we thought that we had taken him down. When in reality, we had just taken out a part of Laxus' shirt...

"Don't tell me that's the best the three of you can do." Laxus said, as he stood up straight. You could tell that some sort of instinct had taken over his eyes with the way they looked. In fact, they reminded me a bit of how my eyes looked when they were about to turn into dragon eyes. "None of you deserve the title of dragon slayer." he continued, as he taunted us.

When the smoke cleared, Laxus still stood. Barely a scratch on him, and a badly torn up shirt. The front had been torn open, and the sleeves had been ripped clean off.

"What the heck!" Natsu said in shock.

"I don't get it..." Gajeel said, just as surprised and shocked as the rest of us. "I know he's strong and all, but we wipped out a ton of dragon slayer magic on him."

"A normal wizard would be down before you could have gotten here Gajeel. Hell, before even I joined in this battle... The only way he could withstand it like this is if he's..." I said, as I studied Laxus closely. Taking in his scent, I felt my eyes widened. Behind his personal scent, it was faint, like it wasn't originally a part of him; but it was there nonetheless.

Laxus was a dragon slayer too...

"Seeing as I've already dropped a bit hint, I'll let you guys in on a little secret. I haven't told anyone this because I always hated the old man's lectures; but I think I can trust the two of you." Laxus said, as he bared his teeth. Instead of normal _human _teeth, he had fangs like a dragon.

Showing us his fangs, he then released a huge amount of magic power that ripped the rest of his shirt clean off as he got bigger, and scales appeared on his arms.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I heard Natsu say from my left.

"No way..." Gajeel said from my right.

"So this is what a second generation dragon slayer is capable of." I said, making Gajeel and Natsu look over at me.

"Second Generation dragon slayer?" Natsu asked, as he kept watching Laxus, to see what he'd do next.

"It's a dragon slayer who learned their magic through means other than a dragon. Either from a fellow dragon slayer, parent, or even worse, and much more dangerous... Through a lacrima...That is, if your body doesn't reject it." I explained, as I glanced between Natsu and Gajeel, and Laxus.

"What happens is if does?" Gajeel asked.

"Then it kills you."

"How do you know all this?" Natsu demanded, as he turned from watching Laxus to looking at me.

"I know because I use to know someone who had a lacrima implanted in them. Making them the second generation Water Dragon Slayer..." I said, as the familiar face of an old friend popped up in my mind, before the image turned dark, and red to the night they died in my arms...

However, any further thoughts were then interrupted when Laxus took a deep breath. Never a good sign for a dragon slayer's opponent.

"LIGHTENING DRAGON ROAR!" Laxus shouted, as he blasted us with a breath full of lightening. The blast hit all three of us dead on, and knocked us all back. When the blindingly bright light from Laxus' attack cleared, Natsu, Gajeel, and I were lying on the floor. The electric impulses running through our bodies making it impossible to move for a few moments.

"You're still alive." Laxus said in surprise as he looked us over. "Damn. I was sure that would finish you off."

Hearing this, I could help but smirk as I thought back to the look in his eyes throughout the entire fight.

"It had... The potential to kill us... However... You don't... Exactly want to..." I said between spasms of pain as I slowly got to my feet. If he hadn't realized it yet, then damn it all if I wasn't going to show him.

"SHUT UP!" Laxus shouted, as he moved towards us. "You three losers... Erza and Mystogen... The pathetic people of Magnolia... YOUR TIME IS UP!" Laxus shouted, as he began to summon a very familiar spell.

"That spell..." I heard Natsu say, as I forced my panic to calm down.

"This guy is insane... He's actually going to try to cast Makarov's ultimate judgment spell. It'll target anyone he sees as his enemy." Gajeel said, as he slowly sat up.

Taking a deep breath, I looked at Laxus' eyes once more. And I was sure of what I saw...

"Laxus... You and I both know that that spell won't do a damn thing..." I began, as Laxus glared up at me. "However... If you insist on casting it... Then you better look me in the fucking eyes when you cast it! Do that, and you're ready to end a lot a lives... If you can't then you better start preparing yourself for the consequences..." I said, as Laxus growled at me.

"Do you think it's easy to end a life to make something better? Don't act like you've been in my position before! Hell, your hands are clean of such a thing." Laxus growled at me.

Smiling... Genuinely smiling, I looked up at Laxus as I let all the experiences a little girl should have never had filled my eyes.

"Who said I was acting?" I asked him, to the shock of him, and the two behind me.

"Ice Fairy?" I heard Gajeel say, as I felt his eyes train on me. While Natsu on the other hand was strangely quiet.

However, before anyone could say anything else, another voice sounded throughout the church.

"LAXUS' you have to stop this!" Levy shouted from the door way to the cathedral.

"Levy!" I said in shock, as I glanced over my shoulder. "Get out of here!" I shouted at her, hoping she would listen. Only for her to ignore me.

"Laxus! Please! You've gotta go and see the master one last time!" Levy shouted over everything, as tears sprung to her eyes. "Master Makarov... Your grandfather... Is almost gone!" she said, as the tears finally fell from her eyes.

Thankfully, hearing this was enough to make Laxus pause, and look up at her.

"Levy..." I said, as tears welled up in my eyes as well. Porlyusica must not have made it in time... I couldn't believe it, Gramps was slipping away. The one man I've come to see as a father figure since Storm left... I was about to loose another person...

"This is working out perfectly for me... Now that the old man's at death's door, I have an even bigger chance at becoming Fairy Tail's new master."

Hearing Laxus say this made something deep down inside of me snap. Before my vision blurred and went out, everything gained a blue tinted vision before it faded out. And I heard one last thing leave my lips as I slowly turned around before even my hearing went out.

"ICE DRAGON SECRET ART: ICE FIRE SPARK!"

…...

Next Chapter – Chapter 10 – The Fantasia Parade, and a Haunting Past

…...

Sorry guys, I felt like leaving some suspense at the end of this chapter. Don't worry though, I'll have the next chapter out soon. This should also be the last chapter for the Fantasia events, and the story will move on from there.

I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'll get the chapter up and going as soon as I get it typed up.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Bugg18.


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